Ivan the Terrible

Czar Ivan IV (1530-1584), the first Russian ruler to take the title czar, is known as one of the worst tyrants in history, but few people among the general public know how he got such an infamous reputation. Relying on extensive research based heavily on original Russian sources, this definitive biography depicts an incredibly complex man living in a time of simple, harsh realities. Robert Payne, the distinguished author of many historical and biographical works, and Russian scholar Nikita Romanoff, describe in vivid and lively detail Ivan's callous upbringing; the poisoning of his second wife and the murder of his son; his obsession with religion and sin; his predilection for mass murder, evidenced by his massacre of 30,000 citizens of Novgorod; yet his remarkable intelligence as a ruler, supporting the growth of trade and expanding Russia's borders.

Author: Robert Payne, Nikita Romanoff
Publisher: Cooper Square Press
Published: 10/01/2002
Pages: 520
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.49lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.10w x 1.11d
ISBN13: 9780815412298
ISBN10: 0815412290
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- Biography & Autobiography | Political

About the Author
Robert Payne (1911-1983) was a distinguished historian and author of The Life and Death of Lenin, The Rise and Fall of Stalin, and The Dream and the Tomb. Nikita Romanoff, grandnephew of Nicholas II of Russia, is a world-renowned scholar of Russian history.