Ivan the Terrible. The Beginning of the Path. Essays on Russian History of the 30s-40s of the 16th Century

The new book by Russian historian V.V. Pensky is dedicated to the complex and contradictory period in the history of the Russian state and to the man who became a symbol of this time, — Ivan the Terrible. The long... reign of Ivan IV essentially summarized the results of the Rurik dynasty's presence at the pinnacle of power in the Russian political Olympus. The first Russian tsar completed the work started by his great-grandfather Vasily II and his grandfather Ivan III, — the unification of lands and power. He completed the construction of the Russian «service state», which was then repeatedly rebuilt, especially during the time of Peter the Great, and lasted until the second half of the 18th century, when Catherine II began its gradual dismantling. This process was complex and far from linear — after the leap forward made during Ivan III, there was a lull during Vasily III, when both the country and the power seemed to prepare, gathering strength and energy for a new leap. The unexpected death of Vasily III postponed this process for some time. The author discusses the years of the «boyar rule» that followed the death of Ivan IV's father, the period of «interregnum» and timelessness, when the personality and character of the future terrible tsar were formed, and how his path to power began.
The author included numerous quotes from chronicles and documents from the time of Ivan the Terrible in his work to convey the spirit of the era as accurately as possible.