Peter the First: good or evil for Russia? 3rd edition. Anisimov E.V.

The reformist heritage of Peter the Great, like his own personality, still gives rise to fierce disputes in Russian society. In the 19th century, disagreements in the assessment of Peter's activity were largely impetus to the emergence of two main directions of ideological struggle in the Russian intellectual elite - Westerners and Slavophiles. Evgeny Anisimov decided on a bold step: to submit on an equal footing two points of view on the historical role of the reformer. The book is written in the form of a dialogue, or rather, fierce debates of two opponents: a supporter of a pan -European development and a supporter of a “special path”. According to the author, both positions have the right to exist, both are true in their own way and both reflect such a complex, ambiguous phenomenon as Peter's era in Russian history.

Evgeny Anisimov-Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor and Scientific Director Department of History of the NIU Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg branch), professor of the European University in St. Petersburg, chief researcher at the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The author of several hundred scientific publications, including three monographs on the history of the reign of Peter the Great.