Publisher's Synopsis
Ivan the Terrible has an undisputed reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. Despite - or because of - this reputation, he is widely regarded as creating the model of autocratic rule thought to be necessary, or even natural, for the Russian state whether Tsarist or Communist. Halperin, in this much anticipated new biography some twenty years in the making, shatters the myths surrounding Ivan and reveals a complex ruler who had much in common with his European contemporaries, such as Henry the Eighth.
