Great Catherine : The Life of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia

Make this your first book on C.T.G., it was great. It will help you find out if she's a subject you might want to investigate further.

This biography reads like a novel while keeping true to historical fact. The author does a great job of setting aside scandalous myths about Catherine, drawing attention instead to the truly extraordinary woman she was. This is a great read for anyone with a passion for Russian history, like myself, or for anyone interested in the lives of women who successfully wielded power in a male-dominated world.

I got interested in Russian history after going to the Soviet Union when I was in 8th grade and then the Ukraine when I was in college. Then there is the fact that my husband is also of Russian descent. I picked Catherine the Great because she had such an influence and ruled for a long time. I can't wait to read Erickson's new book about another Russian royal family. It is rare for an author of a biography to write such that you think you are reading a fiction romance story, but that is just what Carolly Erickson has done. I was drawn into the story of Catherine and her thoughts and feelings from the first page. From her mother's ambition, to her own ambition, to the murder of her husband, to her many lovers. The story just flows in an awesome fashion. The only dissappointment was that the book seemed to gloss over Catherine's many acomplishments as a ruler. It did seem like the book was mosty about her early life and not enough about her rule.This book will take a while to get throught, it is not an easy read, but is well worth it to understand the history of a people who are such a mystery to most American people.

Erickson writes with authority in the realm of history, with an impressive list of books, under her belt, including, but not limited to Bloody Mary, Great Harry, Mistress Anne, Bonnie Prince Charlie, The First Elizabeth as well as many others. She is well respected in her field and uses a variety of primary sources when ever possible. In Great Catherine, Erickson uses primary sources including, but not limited to, Catherine's own memoirs as well as other writings of Catherine. Erickson also took advantage of other sources such as letters as well as dispatches of visiting ambassadors, letters and memoirs of contemporaries, both Russian and European, and contemporary descriptions of Russian society and the Russian court travelers, as well as political and administrative documents. Catherine is presented in a very human light throughout the entire book. In the beginning she is presented as a precocious little girl in the court of King Frederick, saying for all to hear and much to her mother's embarrassment, "Why does the king have such a short jacket? He's rich enough to afford a longer one isn't he?"(p.1) Later, when she was fourteen, and once again in the Court of King Frederick, just before embarking for Russia, to be presented to the Empress Elizabeth to see if she was indeed a suitable bride for Peter the third, Princess Sophie made easy conversation with the King and "amazed the court". (p.32) During her stay in Russia, Sophie became gravely ill and was nursed back to health by the Empress herself. The two became quite close and Sophie soon became the Empress's favorite and upon her indoctrination into the Russian Orthodox Church, was renamed by the Empress after her own mother, and second wife to Peter the Great. She was no longer Princess Sophie, but Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia. The mother-daughter relationship did not last as long as Catherine had hoped, for the Empress the suffered from paranoia and was constantly in a state of anxiety in great fear of being overthrown just as she had overthrown her predecessor. She turned on Catherine and blamed her alone for not having provided an heir and became increasingly cruel to her. It seems that after two years the royal couple had not in fact consummated the marriage. It was rumored that Peter was impotent or sterile, perhaps from the severe bout with the pox that he had suffered. Regardless Catherine knew that an heir was necessary and if she did not provide one then she would become unnecessary and would be disposed of as easily as she was chosen. She became pregnant with a child and was once again in the good graces with Empress Elizabeth. The child was a product of her love affair, with Sergei Saltykov. (p.121) Once he had accomplished the deed, he was sent away from Catherine, just as her son Paul was taken away from her once he was born. It seemed to Catherine that the Empress took great pleasure in her power to arrange the lives

Having read all of Carolly's books, when "Great Catherine" was released, I again was transported to another place and time by the writing of Ms. Erickson. The author has a gift for making history come alive. It's as if you are right there listening in on the political intrigue and court gossip of Catherine's day. She also strips away the unrealistic views of the great monarch passed down by those who observed her from afar. "Great Catherine" is a "great" book and worthy of your time - even if you know nothing of Russian history! Carolly continues to be one of the best historical biographers of our day