ABSTRACT
Charles Whitworth recorded his impressions of Russia not only in his correspondence but also in a manuscript ‘Summary Account of Russia as it was in the Spring in 171 O’. Whitworth left Russia in March 1710; these, therefore, were his impressions of Russia at the time of his departure. By the time Whitworth wrote his account in 1710, Russia had achieved an emphatic victory over the Swedes at Poltava and had established a foothold on the Baltic as well as, at least temporarily, on the Black Sea through the acquisition of the port of Azov. Whitworth could have read at least some of the sources in English editions since they were popular at the time, although he never made any reference to them. Whitworth commented more on the Russian armed forces, both in his correspondence and in his ‘Account’, than on any other subject.
