Ian Grey (1) (1918–1996)

Most people have probably heard of Ivan IV, commonly called the Terrible yet few could probably name the accomplishments of his grandfather Ivan III. However Ivan IV consolidation of power can be viewed as the culmination of the policy that Ivan III had set into motion. When Ivan III came to power he was merely one amongst equals as the Grand Prince of Moscow but by his death he had implemented the beginnings of an autocratic monarchy. All of this seemed to be the result of Ivan's show more infatuation with the conquest of parts of Lithuanian. To this end Ivan would embark on a Byzantine plan that started with consolidating his power in the Dutchy of Moscow. Once he had done this he set about throwing off the yoke of his Mongol overlords dominating the smaller Russian city states and bringing the powerful city of Novgorod under his control. Next he set up a web of alliances that would isolate Lithuania and force it to divide its forces. Furthermore Ivan would also make treaties with the declining Mongol successor states on his eastern borders to free up his soldiers for his planned war with Lithuania. Finally in true Machiavellian form Ivan married his daughter to the King of Lithuania in the hope that Catholic Lithuania would try and convert her from Russian Orthodoxy giving Ivan justification for a war under the guise of protecting religious minority and his daughter's soul. All of this culminated in the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars starting in 1500 that saw Ivan conquer much of the eastern territory of Lithuania.

Grey does a great job providing a readable account of Ivan's build up to his war. After finishing this book I have a new found respect for Ivan III as he was able to implement such a complex plan without the aid of adequate transportation and where a diplomat might take a year to get back to report the results of treaty negotiations. Grey doesn't bring anything new to the discussion of Ivan's life, yet as a compact narrative of what we know about the man it still has it uses. Although being it was written in the 60's the information might be a little dated. Overall if you want to learn about the start of the Russian state this book is a good place to start. show less

This is a colourful narrative of the life of the real historical Russian Tsar Boris Godunov, only generally known from Pushkin's play and Mussorgsky's opera of the same names. Boris rose to power under the notorious Ivan the Terrible, whose younger son by his first wife, Fedor, married Boris's sister Irina. When Fedor succeeded his father in 1584, Boris was the power behind the throne, and when Fedor died without an heir in 1598, Boris was the obvious candidate for ruler. His rule was short show more lived and ended in famine and a revolt of a pretender who claimed to be Dimitri, a younger son of Ivan the Terrible. By the violent standards of the era, Boris was a relatively liberal and enlightened ruler and comes across as an interesting figure at a crucial period of Russian history. Since not that much is known about him, this book, despite being under 200 pages, only partially focuses on Boris. show less

Fascinating study. Not a period or country I'd read a lot about but Grey's account (whilst heavy on the scene setting) does a good job of bringing it to life, even though it's obvious that the source material is sketchy - but at least he acknowledges that!

An exceptionally good biography of the Romanov dynasty / history of Russia from 1613 to 1917, in which Ian Grey considers each czar in turn, evaluating their character, circumstances and achievements (or lack of).
These absolute rulers had everything to do with the development of Russia, such as introducing western ideas in the case of Peter the Great, turning serfs into virtual slaves under Catherine II, conquering and settling vast areas of Asia under Alexander II or just missing turning show more Russia into a constitutional monarchy under the last czar Nicholas II. show less