William Tyler
Peter the Great: 1682–1725
Summary
A fascinating look at the life and reign of one of Russia’s greatest tsars, Peter the Great, and his often ruthless drive to make Russia a great European Power.
William Tyler
William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.
That’s a very good and not an easy question to answer, partly because the church in the 13th century was supportive of the English nobility. They’d had the experience of supporting Beckett against Henry II. They weren’t weren’t averse to taking on the king. You could ask that question about any other country other than England in the Middle Ages. It just so happened it was with us.
No, I don’t think anything’s part of the soul of any people. And if you remember between the two revolutions of 1917, Russia was a democracy under Kerensky. So I’m optimistic, but what I’m worried about now is that we don’t know what democracy is in the West. And some of you heard me talk about that. So we certainly wouldn’t think that Britain is a good example of democracy and we wouldn’t think America is a good example of democracy.
Well, two things. One, it had the best professional army in Europe. Two, it had the best general in Charles XII and three, it had a much bigger population because it didn’t just include Sweden, it included a lot of the landmass of Europe from Germany through to Estonia. Parts of Norway. It it was some, it was an extremely, it was an extremely large territory held and it also employed mercenary troops from Germany.