About the book: 2015 / In Russian history there is only one sovereign who was awarded the title of the Great during his lifetime - Peter I. The son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina, Peter was born on May 30, 1672 in Moscow. True, the tsar had two more sons - Fyodor and Ivan, but neither of them were clearly rulers by character and not tenants by health. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, he began to rule together with his brother Ivan while he was alive. And after Lent, having survived the cruelest childhood and youth with the Streltsy riots, the furious attempts of his sister Sophia to take the throne from him, Peter nevertheless became what he was destined to become. We consider Peter’s reforms to be purely his work, but this is not entirely true. Alexey Mikhailovich was the first to think about creating a modern fleet and reforming the old Streltsy army; he was actively involved in the development of Siberia and establishing connections with Europe. Peter took up these initiatives of his father and took on Russia with incredible energy. We can hardly judge what would have happened if not for Peter’s reforms and, most importantly, what they brought to Russia more - benefit or harm. But if you look from the point of view of the empire created by Peter, then of course it is beneficial for it. Peter created the strongest army and navy in Europe, reformed city government, founded powerful factories in the Urals, finally won the Northern War, defeating the strongest Swedish army, and it was for this that he received the title “Father of the Fatherland, Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great.” He died of pneumonia on January 28, 1725, having caught a cold while personally rescuing drowning soldiers on the Neva, without leaving a will about his heir. But he left a very powerful empire. He died, becoming the last Russian Tsar and the first All-Russian Emperor.