Peter the Great through British Eyes
Perceptions and Representations of the Tsar since 1698

Explains how the British have responded to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, since 1698.

Anthony Cross (Author)

9780521782982, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 November 2000

208 pages, 32 b/w illus.
25.2 x 17.9 x 1.5 cm, 0.58 kg

'This is an enjoyable book not just for the Peter addict like this reviewer, but also for those interested in British views of Russia generally.' SEER

Peter the Great's visit to England in the first months of 1698 has been called 'the most picturesque episode in the history of Anglo-Russian relations', and lives on most vividly in popular memory for the devastation caused at Sayes Court, John Evelyn's house and garden in Deptford. Recent celebrations of the tercentenary of that visit have refocused attention on the most famous of Russian tsars, but the story of Britain's love-hate relationship with him over the intervening centuries has never before been told. This study analyses changing British reactions to Peter in an extremely wide variety of printed sources - newspapers and journals, letters and collections of anecdotes, histories and biographies, novels, poems and plays. A final innovative chapter is devoted to images of the tsar as interpreted by British painters from Godfrey Kneller to Daniel Maclise, and by a whole cohort of engravers, illustrating biographies and travel accounts.

Preface
1. Prologue to a visit
2. Peter in England, January–April 1698
3. British reactions to the reigning Peter, 1698–1725
4. Consolidation of a myth, 1726–1761
5. The shadow of the bronze horseman, 1761–1801
6. The testament of Peter the Great and British views of the tsar in the nineteenth century
7. Peter on the British stage
8. The British contribution to Petrine iconography
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Cultural studies [JFC], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1], European history [HBJD], Literature: history & criticism [DS], History of art & design styles: from c 1900 - [ACX], History of art & design styles: c 1800 to c 1900 [ACV], History of art & design styles: c 1600 to c 1800 [ACQ]