Ivan the Terrible

by Henri Troyat

Book Overview

The author of the best-selling Tolstoy, winner of France's prestigious Prix Goncourt, member of the Acad?mie Fran?aise, and renowned expert on Russia paints yet another indelible portrait of one of Russia's imposing historical figures. Henri Troyat, author of acclaimed biographies of Catherine the Great, Tolstoy, and Turgenev, turns his attention to one of the most violent, demented rulers ever, Czar Ivan IV. Though this larger-than-life ruler inflicted...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525242465
• ISBN13: 9780525242468
• Release Date: July 1984
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 283 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

lot of research went into this book but it is so well written that it is easy to follow.

Henri Troyat is a great writer

Great book! What more can I say that hasn't been said by other reviewers? This history gives me some understanding of Stalin and the collective unconscious of the Russian people. Maybe this is solely my own thinking, but this also accounts (in my mind) for how the Russians were able to overwhelm the Axis powers on the eastern front in World War II - they somehow were conditioned to overwhelm the enemy by sending hordes after hordes into combat - which is the way the fighting sounded in the book The Forgotten Soldier. To me it also somewhat explains the personalities of many Russians (they are passionate and can be ruthless when it comes to business). The drama in the music of their classical composers also seems to fit in the picture. For so many years the Russian people have lived in a maelstrom - a mixture of cruel paranoid leadership and generous, caring, learned leadership (Catherine, the great). The Russian people's culture seems distinct to me. A Kandinsky painting says what I think I'm seeing after having read a number of books about Russia now - and this book is an integral part of that picture.

A Medieval Stalin

Lately I have been reading a lot about Russian and Soviet history and one thing that becomes very clear, is that for centuries the Russian people have had to endure some of the most barbaric, inhuman rules ever to roam the earth. During the mid-1500's, Ivan the Terrible decimated cities simply out of boredom or jealously. People around him died for no other reason than he wanted them to. The Russian populace endured almost unbelievable cruelty, yet always believed in their "father" and never really questioned his authority or even his sanity.Author Troyat does a magnificent job of making Ivan a real person. Orphaned at a young age and mistreated by the boyars around him, Ivan spent his adult life as a pious mass murderer. Ordained by God to rule as he pleased, Ivan never questioned his cruelty and went to this death blaming others for the events that he himself caused. I have read several other Troyat biographies of famous Russians, and his is one of his best.

Excellent account of Tsar's life!!

I had my hopes on this book and i wasnt dissapointed.The author gives a direct,impartial account of Ivan.The authoor goes into the Tsar's mind with clarity without trying to explain the whole thing. The way the author presents the story is sophisticated and full of images and action.The description of the russian court is excellent and the way it is explained is very good.I recommend this book for anyone who wants to study the life of Ivan and his times

Decent biography

Henri Troyat has excelled in Russian studies over the last decades His work on Catherine the Great is momentous and in this light the comparatively light work on Ivan the Fourth seemed a bit disappointing. But in all fairness to the author the work is a very entertaining read. It traces not just the life of this cruel man but effective leader but also that of the birth of Russia. The rule of Ivan the Fourth set Russia on its course to the West that would gain full momentum under Peter the Great.Although the book points to the obvious signs of lunacy in Ivan's character it also makes it clear that this man was the first mover in turning Muscovy into Russia proper. His lunacy seems to be confirmed when we learn that Ivan seriously thought that he could win the hand of Elizabeth I in marriage! He probably had his second wife the Csarina Maria poisoned to pave the way for this hoped for English betrothal.His oriental obsession with religion and therefore sin, and his desire to make Moscow the new Constantinople(after its fall in 1452) forms the basis of the long and sometimes tedious Russian awakening from the confines of the Terem (the royal harem chambers) and medieval superstitions.(which it never really escaped from)Ivan is indeed portrayed as being that peculiar Russian mix of dark brooding pagan and just Christian that occurred so often in Russian history(think of the characters of Maxin Gorky, Feador Dostoevsky or even Rasputin)Luckily the work is not just about Ivans 'tempestuous and violent moods swings ( he killed his own son during a temper tantrum) or his callous cruelty ( throwing people to bears often not out of punishment but just for sport) but Troyat also treats us to accounts of English traders being received and treated to sumptuous banquets as well as the important military adventures of Ivan in Kazan and Astrakhan against the Tartars as well as his strife with Sigismund Augustus, King of Poland.Ivan was also the first Russian leader to value and encourage learning although he was very far removed from being a type of early Enlightment figure. Although Ivan the Fourths' grandfather Ivan III was the first to give Muscovy written laws Ivan desperately wanted to be seen as being a great legislator. He wrote passages in the Domostroy(written mainly by the priest Sylvester)that would be the handbook in Russia for 200 years ,dealing with all manners of household and social issues from personal hygiene, table etiquette, recipes for salting pork to the virtues of beating your wife on a regular basis (those were the days!) Troyat gives us a fascinating glimpse into a world that was neighter European nor Oriental any more as well as making us aware of the morally uncomfortable fact that Ivan despite the cruelty and madness of the man was probable the only type of man to start Russian on its road to Europe. History cares more for results that morals . It also points to the clear historical precedents in Russian history of genocide ( the ext

popular history-writing at its best

Henri Troyat has done an excellent job in vividly describing the life and times of Ivan the Terrible. Although his Russian epitaph should technically speaking translate as "the Formidable", this book gives you a pretty good idea why "the Terrible" is much, much closer to the truth. Here lies the start of Russia's ever- since fascination with rulers providing it with the smack of firm government, even if it is handed out with the help of the knout. A spellbinding book, if not always for the faint of heart.