Robert K. Massie (1929–2019)
Author of Nicholas and Alexandra
About the Author
Robert Kinloch Massie III (1929-) is an American historian, author, Pulitzer Prize recipient. He has devoted much of his career to studying the House of Romanov, Russia's royal family from 1613-1917. Massie was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He spent much of his youth in Nashville, Tennessee and show more currently resides in the village of Irvington, New York. He studied United States and modern European history at Yale and Oxford University, respectively, on a Rhodes Scholarship. Massie went to work as a journalist for Newsweek from 1959 to 1962 and then took a position at the Saturday Evening Post. In 1969 he wrote and published his breakthrough book, Nicholas and Alexandra. Massie was the president of the Authors Guild from 1987 to 1991, and he still serves as a council member. While president of the Guild, he famously called on authors to boycott any store refusing to carry Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. His title Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Robert K. Massie
Associated Works
Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas (1997) — Contributor — 429 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1929-01-05
- Date of death
- 2019-12-2
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Country (for map)
- USA
- Birthplace
- Versailles, Kentucky, USA
- Place of death
- Irvington, New York, USA
- Education
- Yale University
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 19
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 13,250
- Popularity
- #1,764
- Rating
- 4.2
- Reviews
- 290
- ISBNs
- 180
- Languages
- 15
- Favorited
- 32
This was my second book by R. Massie, first being a wonderful tome on Catherine II another of only three monarchs so styled since the establishment of tzardom in Russia in XV century. What I can surmise upon reading these two books – on Catherine and Peter – the author loved Russia. I would go even further proposing that he was a very pleasant person to be with. The way he depicts characters, no matter how repulsive their deeds are, normally doesn’t provoke rage or any other negative emotions. Probably you’d feel sorry and upset by person’s bad behavior. And if a person possesses some commendable traits or did something good, you’d end up his Facebook fan for life. Mr. Massie probably was adored by his students. He’s not only a great narrator, but a very savvy psychologist too.
Time and again you will run into some tangential figures main protagonist meets. Their names may sound remotely familiar, but all of us are a bit rusty on school history, aren’t we? Don’t panic, you’ll be provided with a brief, but yet sufficient enough description of a person, age, event, trade, country, etc…
While reading it, I simultaneously read and watched some Russian historians talking on Peter I. It looks like Mr. Massie covered every interesting story and fact of Tzar’s life. Bravo! His warmness to Russia still baffles me, if we factor in the time of writing – late 1970s – Cold War’s apogee! It’s as apolitical treatment of history as it should be. An example for all historians.
P.s. In spite of making it to top 5 Russia’s historical heroes public opinion on the Tzar is still divided.
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