So how did I even come to read Catherine the Great? My local library is currently closed for renovations, so the only library books I have access to are e-books; evidently, many people find themselves in this predicament (the library is a popular place) and every week it seems fewer title are available. I downloaded it and never looked back. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed Massie's meticulously researched and engagingly written portrait of Russia's last female ruler.
Catherine, Massie informs his readers, entered the world as a minor German princess by the name of Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg (but not too minor: two of her first cousins did become kings of Sweden!). In any case, she was plucked from relative obscurity when Russia's Empress Elizabeth summoned her, at the age of 14, to travel to Russia and marry the Empress's nephew, the future Peter III.
To say the marriage was unhappy is a bit of an understatement - it's not entirely clear that the marriage was ever consummated, to say nothing of the small matter of Peter's death, which Catherine may or may not have orchestrated in order to become Empress. (Based on the few days I spent in St. Petersburg this summer, I can report that the locals still appear divided as to Catherine's role.) Not surprisingly, once in power, Catherine proved a formidable ruler. Her years on the throne included some of the most momentous years in Russia's history. From the partition of Poland, which brought Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine under Russian control, to the wars with Turkey, which gave Catherine the Crimean peninsula and ports on the Black Sea, she presided over Russia's physical enlargement, and the accompanying growth in its spheres of influence.
Her reign was also notable for its length. Catherine ruled longer than Peter the Great, and longer than virtually all of her contemporaries - certainly longer Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, whose removal from the throne (and subsequent beheadings) upset Catherine's view of the world and, arguably, from which she never fully recovered. Certainly, Catherine was concerned with the politics of an ever-shifting world. A complex woman, she was also a consummate art collector, friend of the great philosophes and, at least in the beginning, an enlightened thinker and reformist. (Also, she had many lovers, including more than one near the end of her life who were something like one-third her age.)
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman is, on the whole, an extremely interesting biography of a fascinating woman. I do feel the first part of the book, which focuses on Catherine's years as a German princes and Russian archduchess, is slightly better than the part of the book focused on her years as Empress. The reason is that, in order for the reader to understand the magnitude of the challenges facing Catherine, Massie provides an in-depth analysis of many of the issues. On the one hand, this is useful, and does make for an informative read. On the other hand, I didn't really need so many details on, say, serfdom or the politics of the French Revolution, and I occasionally felt a bit bogged down by the level of detail Massie provides. Still, this is small complaint, and shouldn't hold back an otherwise-interested reader. Speaking of which, who should read this book? Those interested in European history, certainly, but also anyone who loves a good biography, strong writing, and an author who can transport the reader to a world that can be hard to imagine.
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