House of Romanov - Robert Massie

[Xerxes]

Robert Massie passed away few years ago. He wrote several books on the House of Romanov and two other books on the naval landscape pre- and post-1914 (i.e. Dreadnought era) 

 

Robert K. Massie, Narrator of Russian History, Is Dead at 90 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

I just finished reading his +900 page on "Peter the Great". What a fantastic read. The man was a clossus. A force of nature. Against interia itself he pulled the Russian people out of doldrums into the European stage and into a major power. The book is very well written and reads like a novel. The author does a really good job in explaining the European political situation. Where is the Ottomans, the Hapsburng, the Prince of Orange, Louis XIV, they all get a detailed explaination by the author.

 

His four books on the Romanov are:

 

Nicholas and Alexandra (written in the 1967; which actually became Book 3)

Peter the Great (written in 1980, which became Book 1) 

Catherine the Great (written in 2011, which became Book 2)

Final Chapter (2012?)

 

I have bought the first three books and read only Peter the Great.

Will read Catherine the Great in 2023.

 

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Below I copied 4 excerpt from the book.

 

Excerprt 1 talks about the origin of Russian flag.

 

Excerpt 2 is about the Port of Archangel. It was truely the only sea-link that Russia had with the outside world pre-Peter era. It took a Peter to expand into the Baltic sea and it took a peter to challenge the Turkish dominion over the Black Sea, which was considered a Turkish lake till then. It would however be in the reign of Catherine, that the Russia would make most progress against the decaying power of Persia and the Ottomans.

 

Excerpt 3 is about the tax policies and the enormous burden that the Russian people carried to fuel Peter' titanic ambitions.

 

Excerpt 4 is about St-Petersburg, when and where it was created (how high it was on a frozen wasteland). And the force of personality that pushed for its construction and completion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Xerxes]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:39 PM, Xerxes said:

 

 

His four books on the Romanov are:

 

Nicholas and Alexandra (written in the 1967; which actually became Book 3)

 

Peter the Great (written in 1980, which became Book 1) 

 

Catherine the Great (written in 2011, which became Book 2)

 

Final Chapter (2012?)

 

Finished now two of the four books. “Nicholas and Alexandra” was as an easy read as “Peter the Great”. Despite being shorter than the 1,000 pages long “Peter the Great”. <= (highly recommend)
 

Will read “Catherine the Great” sometimes in 2024. I bet it will be another awesome read like that of Peter. 

[coc]

I have the Catherine book and been meaning to read it, Massie is great. Empire podcast recently did a series on Russia that re-piqued my interest in the development of Russia.

[schin]

12 hours ago, Xerxes said:

Finished now two of the four books. “Nicholas and Alexandra” was as an easy read as “Peter the Great”. Despite being shorter than the 1,000 pages long “Peter the Great”. <= (highly recommend)
 

Will read “Catherine the Great” sometimes in 2024. I bet it will be another awesome read like that of Peter. 

 

Other than an in-depth history on the origin and leaders of Russia, will it give you any investment tidbits? Or way to look at investments there?

[Xerxes]

1 hour ago, schin said:

 

Other than an in-depth history on the origin and leaders of Russia, will it give you any investment tidbits? Or way to look at investments there?

Nothing of the sort.
 

“Peter the Great” is a very well written history book on a great leader that pulled Russia out of medieval age through sheer force of personality. “Nicolas and Alexandra” covers its demise. 
 

That said, like any other history book it may pay dividend in unexpected ways through knowledge compounding. 
 

I personally find Orient and Asia an area of interest. Maybe not for investment in a financial sense. But just interesting. 
 

If Canadian-Chinese relation go back to normal, I hope one day to be able to travel to Tibet. 

[schin]

3 hours ago, Xerxes said:

Nothing of the sort.
 

“Peter the Great” is a very well written history book on a great leader that pulled Russia out of medieval age through sheer force of personality. “Nicolas and Alexandra” covers its demise. 
 

That said, like any other history book it may pay dividend in unexpected ways through knowledge compounding. 
 

I personally find Orient and Asia an area of interest. Maybe not for investment in a financial sense. But just interesting. 
 

If Canadian-Chinese relation go back to normal, I hope one day to be able to travel to Tibet. 

 

I hear ya. With American-Russian relations, I doubt I'll get to see St. Petersburg anytime in the near future.