About this audiobook
The young Peter grows into a ruler whose ambitions bring far-reaching changes to the state and the people around him. Established customs encounter new demands concerning work, military organisation and relationships with the wider world. Political transformation becomes visible through the experiences of individuals who respond with enthusiasm, resistance or a practical wish to survive.
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy connects the development of a ruler with the pressures of a society undergoing change. Court life and ordinary labour belong to the same broad historical movement, while personal ambition can support a reform or take advantage of the disruption it creates. The narrative gives public decisions consequences within particular households and lives.
This unfinished historical novel explores authority, adaptation and the human costs of remaking inherited arrangements. Its vivid reconstruction invites readers to follow both the force of a political project and the varied responses of those whose futures are being altered by decisions taken in its name.
