The Revolution of Peter the Great - Hardcover

Cracraft, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674011961 ISBN 13: 9780674011960

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Many books chronicle the remarkable life of Russian tsar Peter the Great, but none analyze how his famous reforms actually took root and spread in Russia. In The Revolution of Peter the Great, James Cracraft offers a brilliant new interpretation of this pivotal era.

Linking together and transcending Peter's many reforms of state and society, Cracraft argues, was nothing less than a cultural revolution. New ways of dress, elite social behavior, navigation, architecture, and image-making emerged along with expansive vocabularies for labeling new objects and activities. Russians learned how to build and sail warships; train, supply, and command a modern army; operate a new-style bureaucracy; conduct diplomacy on a par with the other European states; apply modern science; and conceptualize the new governing system. Throughout, Peter remains the central figure, and Cracraft discusses the shaping events of the tsar's youth, his inner circle, the resistance his reforms engendered, and the founding of the city that would embody his vision--St. Petersburg, which celebrated its tercentenary in 2003.

By century's end, Russia was poised to play a critical role in the Napoleonic wars and boasted an elite culture about to burst into its golden age. In this eloquent book, Cracraft illuminates an astonishing transformation that had enormous consequences for both Russia and Europe, indeed the world.

About this title

About the Author

James Cracraft is Professor of History, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Reviews

A scholar specializing in the culture of Peter I's reign, Cracraft has written major works about the period but now presents an introduction. He completely describes Peter's reforms, emphasizing how profoundly revolutionary they were. The reforms were so extensive, both physically and psychologically, that they altered how Russians thought about the world. Cracraft illustrates the various forms the new ways assumed, going into some detail about how the Russian language changed radically under the influence of an explosion in printing, which accompanied Peter's introduction of Western-style nautical, scientific, and governmental institutions. Cracraft also takes in architecture and visual imagery, laying at Peter's feet the credit for developing creative artists. An admirer of Peter and his achievements, Cracraft nevertheless evenly explains the intense opposition he and they aroused among traditionalists, a conflict that still resounds in Russian history. Essential reading for those seeking the origin of Russia's ongoing friction between Westernizers and nationalists. Gilbert Taylor
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Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674011961
• ISBN 13: 9780674011960
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240