Peter the First

A. N. Tolstoy began writing the novel “Peter the Great” in 1929. “The first decade of the 18th century,” he noted, “presents an amazing picture of an explosion of creative forces, energy, and enterprise. The old world is cracking and collapsing. Europe, which was expecting something completely different, looks in amazement and fear at the emerging Russia...” In his work, Tolstoy used many different sources: research by historians, notes and letters from Peter’s contemporaries - Russians and foreigners, military reports and decrees of that time, diplomatic correspondence, court archives and literary monuments of the era, and besides this - folklore material that brightly and organically fits into the artistic outline of the novel, forming an inextricable whole with it.
The novel is dedicated to a turning point in the history of Russia and the fate of the first Russian emperor and great reformer. It covers the time from Peter's childhood and youth to the beginning of his transformative activities, the first military campaigns, the victories of the Russian army over the Swedes and the founding of St. Petersburg and ends with the capture of Narva by Russian troops. Tolstoy created an extensive gallery of living, memorable images; with great artistic force he depicted the unbridled energy and incredible scope of Peter’s activities, his irreconcilable struggle with old Russia, personified by the Streltsy rebellion and schismatic movement; showed how the Russian state developed and strengthened in the internal struggle and wars for independence. “To understand the secret of the Russian people, its greatness, you need to know its past well and deeply: our history, its fundamental nodes, the tragic creative eras in which the Russian character was born,” the writer asserted.
The book is illustrated by the master of book graphics, the famous artist Anatoly Zinovievich Itkin.