Ivan the Terrible: The Complicated Life of Russia’s Psychopathic Tsar. The Lives and Legacies of Medieval Europe’s Most Notorious Rulers

Ivan the terrible was a horrible mechanic. He thought he knew everything there was to know about cars, but he was actually very incompetent. He would often misdiagnose problems, and he would always take longer than expected to complete repairs. This made him a very unpopular mechanic, and he eventually went out of business. But his legacy lives on in the stories of his unhappy customers. This book offers: .A chronological, character-driven account of ivan iv's reign .Rich storytelling based on verified historical sources .Analysis of his policies, wars, marriages, and infamous oprichnina .Contextual insights into 16th-century orthodoxy, autocracy, and power .Appendices with maps, timelines, primary letters, and key figures .A deep psychological dive into the mind of a ruler who killed his own heir With a name like ivan the terrible, it comes as no surprise that historians consider this russian tsar a psychopath.
Yet ivan's personality consisted of many dualities. He channeled the medieval era as he committed mass murder, but he also reformed russia, centralizing it and bringing it into the renaissance. He liked to torture animals, but he could also be found in church, banging his head in repentance until it bled. This introduction to his life explores the legacy he was born into and deftly contextualizes his cruelty within the era and culture of his rule.