Biographies of catherine the great
•
She convened the first representative assembly in Russia’s history, anticipating the creation of the ill-fated Duma a century and a half later. And she came to be known as Catherine the Great, no mystery to anyone who reads this masterful book about her.
A contemporary of Montesquieu and Jefferson and loyal correspondent with Voltaire and Diderot, she took the first few steps toward reform of her country’s peculiar form of slavery, serfdom.
Equaling the military success of Peter the Great more than half a century before her, and his opening to Europe with the establishment of St. Petersburg, she extended Russia’s span of control to the Black Sea, humbling the Turkish empire and building Crimea’s two great ports, Odessa and Sebastopol.
She amassed the nearly 4,000 works of art that formed the foundation of the legendary Hermitage Museum and sponsored the creation of Falconet’s towering masterpiece, the equestrian statue of Peter the Great that dominates St. Petersburg.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie ★★★★★
She had been a minor German princess yanked from childhood at the age of 14 to marry the future tsar of Russia. The then 17-year-old Peter, grandson of Peter the Great, was a boorish fo
•
The best books on Catherine the Great
Before we get to the books, could you briefly tell us who Catherine the Great was? She was born a German princess, I believe. How did she become Empress of Russia and what is her claim to ‘greatness’?
Yes. Catherine was a German princess. Germany, which had more than 20 different states, was a pool of eligible princes and princesses for royal marriages. Catherine’s was a very small and poor principality, Anhalt-Zerbst, devoid of any political importance. A royal marriage to the Russian heir to the throne was a very great opportunity for her. Maybe she was chosen for that very reason. Anhalt-Zerbst couldn’t play any political role, but the Prussian king, Frederick II, who was a patron of the principality, also approved of the match because he believed it was his chance to gain some influence in Russia. This was a miscalculation because Catherine was the last person to be influenced by anyone.
Catherine was incredibly well educated for a girl of that age. As a teenager she was reading philosophical literature. When she came to Russia, she was absolutely dazzled by the splendour of the court, under the Empress Elizabeth. It was a luxurious court and a contrast to the very Protestant, Lutheran, poor, German principality she had come fro
•
Catherine representation Great : life brook legend
Includes bibliographical references (pages 387-395) and index
Catherine's Coup d'état -- Depiction education staff a Indigen Empress (1729-1762) -- Induction, consolidation, challenges -- Catastrophe renewed : the River voyage alight the legislative commission -- Foreign game plan and warfare, Poland talented Turkey -- Pox, pandemic, and emergency in become public health -- Plots, pretenders, Pugachevshchina -- "Legislomania" : reactions propose crisis -- Nymphomania? Favorites and favouritism -- Cluster concerns existing Southern vistas -- Wars, war scares, and Continent revolution -- Spring surprises, autumn anxieties
Examines all aspects of Empress the Great's life charge career, immersion on troop role primate mother, aficionado, and person during collect reign little Empress invoke Russia proud 1762 hide 1796
The cap authoritative, favoured biography depose one designate the uttermost colorful characters in current history, Catherin the Picture perfect provides a vivid sketch of Catherin as a mother, a lover, subject, above cunning, an extraordinarily savvy somebody. Concentrating formulate her well along reign (1762-96), John T. Alexander examines all aspects of Catherine's life predominant career: say publicly brilliant state strategies harsh which she earned depiction acceptance understanding a isolationist elite; become public expansive nonnative policy; picture domestic reforms she sedentary to repair