Catherine the Great

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J^» PRAISEFOR ^
Peter the Great
"Enthralling . . . As fascinating as any novel and more so than most.'^ —THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ^ ' ^ '
"Urgently readable the work of a master of narrafiye liistory.":
— NEWSWeCjK .
Nicholas ani>^Alexandra
"A magnificent and intimate picture i . . ISJot only the main characters but a whole era becomeiajlive and comprehensible." —harper^s
"An all-too-human picture . Both Nicholas and Alexandra with all their failings come truly alive, as does their almost storybook romance."
-newsday
The Romanovs
"Riveting . urifolds like a detective story" -los amgeles times book review
"Comi)elling a fascinating account."
:hicago tribune:
he Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful,... Tovább

Fülszöveg

J^» PRAISEFOR ^
Peter the Great
"Enthralling . . . As fascinating as any novel and more so than most.'^ —THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ^ ' ^ '
"Urgently readable the work of a master of narrafiye liistory.":
— NEWSWeCjK .
Nicholas ani>^Alexandra
"A magnificent and intimate picture i . . ISJot only the main characters but a whole era becomeiajlive and comprehensible." —harper^s
"An all-too-human picture . Both Nicholas and Alexandra with all their failings come truly alive, as does their almost storybook romance."
-newsday
The Romanovs
"Riveting . urifolds like a detective story" -los amgeles times book review
"Comi)elling a fascinating account."
:hicago tribune:
he Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history.
Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity, as a young woman she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire. She knew or corresponded with the preeminent historical and literary figures of her time: Voltaire, Frederick the Great, Marie Antoinette, and, surprisingly, the American naval hero John Paul Jones.
Reaching the throne determined to become the embodiment of the "benevolent despot" idealized by Montesquieu, she found herself always contending with the deeply ingrained realities of Russian life, including serfdom. She persevered, and for thirty-four years the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution. Her reputation depended entirely on the perspective of the speaker. Praised by Voltaire and Diderot as the equal of the greatest of classical philosophers, she was simultaneously vilified, mostly by foreigners, as "the Messalina of the north."
Catherine's family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies—all are here, vividly described. These included her ambitious, perpetually scheming mother; her weak, bullying husband, Peter (who left her lying untouched beside him for nine years after their marriage); her unhappy son and heir, Paul; her beloved grandchildren; and her "favorites"—the parade of young men from whom she sought companionship and the recapture of youth as well as sex. Here, too, is the giant figure of Gregory Potemkin, her most significant lover and possible husband, with whom she shared a passionate correspondence of love and separation, followed by seventeen years of unparalleled mutual achievement.
(continued on hack flap)
The story is superbly told. All the special qualities that Robert K. Massie brought to Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great are present here: historical accuracy, depth of understanding, felicity of style, mastery of detail, ability to shatter myth, and a rare genius for finding and expressing the human drama in extraordinary lives.
History offers few stories richer than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, an eternally fascinating woman is returned to life.
ROBERT K. M ASSIE was bom in Lexington, Kentucky, and studied American history at Yale and European history at Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He was president of the Authors Guild from J987 to 1991. His previous books include Nicholas and Alexandra, Peter the Great: His Life and World (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize for biography), The Romanovs: The Final Chapter, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War, and Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea.
Also available from Random House Audio
Jacket design: The Book Designers Jacket painting: Alexei Petrovich Antropov, portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna (the future Catherine the Great) (detail) (Bridgeman Art Library International)
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