eISBN: 978-1-85752-146-7

Geoffrey Parker writes: ‘I started to study the military history of seventeenth-century Europe forty-five years ago, and yet I have never come across a source like the Diary written by Patrick Gordon, a Scottish Catholic who in 1651, at the age of sixteen, fled his native land to become a "soldier of fortune."’ Parker continues: ‘Dmitry Fedosov of the Russian Academy of Sciences is producing a scholarly edition of Gordon’s entire surviving text in both the original and in Russian.... Fedosov includes an excellent apparatus criticus,identifying places, persons, and foreign terms; he provides a detailed index.’ The high standard set in the earlier volumes is continued in the fourth. Considering the years 1684-1689, the diary describes all manner of military activities, in particular two campaigns against the Ottoman Turks culminating in the capture of their fortress at Azov. In addition, Gordon gives an evocative account of a visit to Britain, meetings with King James VII and II in London followed by a reunion with friends and family back home in Aberdeenshire. He also tells us of many contacts with the future Peter the Great before and during the young tsar’s seizure of power from his half-sister the Regent Sophia.

Patrick Gordon (1635-1699), born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was a Soldier of Fortune who became a Russian general under Tsar Peter I. He was a close friend and advisor to the Tsar. After his death in 1699, Gordon left detailed diary of his life and times, written in English.

Dmitry Fedosov CorrFRSE is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of World History at Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. Dr Fedosov is an expert on medieval and early modern history of Russia, Scotland, and Scotland-Russia links from the Middle Ages to the present. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the Moscow Caledonian Club, established in 1994. Scotland, and Scotland-Russia links from the Middle Ages to the present. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the Moscow Caledonian Club, established in 1994.

Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries 1635-1699, General Patrick Gordon Auchleuchries 1635 - 1699, Russia, Military, History

License: CC BY-NC