Books: The Brute in Purple*

A magnificent wolf who was Autocrat of All the Russias

The Story. "Peter is born." Thus his story begins. Red snow falls. Wolves howl. Peter howls. His mother the Czarina is wafted to heaven. God receives her on His throne of lapis lazuli. The Tsar is dead—Peter's father?

Peter's older brother, Ivan, is a moron; his sister, Sofia, is grasping for the throne. His mother's lover, Prince Galizyn, has been inherited by Sofia. A Prussian lieutenant tutors Peter in the palace at Preobrashensk. One day...

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