Ivan the Terrible

 'Andrei Pavlov of St. Petersburg and Maureen Perrie of Birmingham have written not only a very impressive synthesis of scholarship on the reign of Ivan IV, in itself a great accomplishment, but also a monograph which presents a coherent thesis concerning the relationship of Ivan's rule to Russia's political evolution. ...'

'This succinct volume now sets the standard by which all future "short" syntheses of Ivan's reign will be judged. This is far and away the most readable survey of Ivan's reign in print in English.'

'...In conclusion, Pavlov and Perrie have written a work which will appeal to specialists and nonspecialists alike, and will provide much food for thought about the still little-understood but always intriguing reign of Ivan the Terrible.'

H-Net Reviews, Charles Halperin of Indiana University

'Andrei Pavlov and Maureen Perrie have produced an excellent and very welcome biography of the fascinating and elusive Ivan the Terrible.  The work maintains the reader's interest in the horror and sensational cruelty of Ivan's reign, while adhering to rigorously scholarly standards and advancing an orginal argument of its own.'

'The book is well-written and readable.

Canadian Journal of  History, August 2004

'...this book can be highly recommended as a balanced and comprehensive account of Ivan IV's reign.'

Sergei Bogatyrev, SEER, 82, 4, 2004

'Ivan the Terrible is a valuable work for all scholars of Russian or early modern European history, and will be particularly useful for undergraduate students of this period.'

Debra Coulter, The Historical Association, Jan 2005

' All in all, the authors have provided an illuminating political analysis of the reign of Ivan IV... a provocative and informative starting point for classroom discussion.  The study is also of value to the general reader who wants to understand Russia's place within the European Community of states of the pre-modern period.'

English Historical Review, Feb 2005

'Pavlov and Perrie have produced a work that is exceptionally well researched and supported by a comprehensive index. Of considerable help to the reader are the chronology, maps and genealogical tables... a valuable acquistion for scholars of Russion, as is the bibliography for scholars of Russion or early modern European history.'

European History Quarterly, 35.1

Maureen Perrie is Professor of History at the University of Birmingham.Andrei Pavlov is a senior research fellow in the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg.

List of illustrations
Preface
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. Ivan's inheritance
2. The young ruler
The minority of Ivan IV
Coronation, marriage and the fall of the Glinskiis
3. The conquest of Kazan' and Astrakhan'
4. Reformers and reforms
The reasons for reform
Adashev and Sil'vestr
The reforms of the 1550s
5. From consensus to conflict
 The 'boyar revolt' of 1553
The power of the Muscovite ruler
The beginning of the Livonian War and the dismissal of Adashev and Sil'vestr
On the eve of the oprichnina terror
6. The introduction of the oprichnina
 The tsar's departure from Moscow
The decree on the oprichnina
    'A strange institution': problems of interpretation
7. Repression and resettlement
The first victims
Attempts to reach a compromise
The rout of the zemshchina opposition
The land resettlements
8. The culmination of the terror
    The devastation of Novgorod
    The executions in Moscow
    The abolition of the oprichnina
9. After the oprichnina
The 'grand princely rule' of Simeon Bekbulatovich
The end of the Livonian War
The last years of Ivan's reign
 The consequences of the oprichnina and post-oprichnina regimes
Conclusion
Chronology
Glossary
Select bibliography