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Peter the Great

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Peter the Great

by Derek Wilson

Arrow Books

HK$260

He arranged for his eldest son and heir, Alexei, to be tortured. Alexei died - a high price to pay for unproven treachery.

Like Stalin, Peter I of Russia (1672-1725), also known as Peter the Great, was a paranoid, capricious sadist. Just for fun, during his boyhood, Peter would make his 'fattest lords' sledge over newly set ice on the lake where he lived outside Moscow, triggering drownings. Another hobby was watching houses burn.

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