Peter the Great

Peter the Great-Profiles in Power is an informative and scholarly account of Peter the Great's life and times. While it may not be for the traditional popular audience (it's not pretty, has no pictures, and can be rather turgid and meandering at points), it provides a relatively concise account of a fascinating topic. If you are interested at all in Russia and Peter the Great, there are of course many good books from which to start your reading. M.S. Anderson's is perhaps more involved than similar books, but it compensates for its density by being chock full of well-researched and well-presented information.