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What Members Thought
I am a great fan of Massie's history so I knew that this book would appeal to me......and it did. It covers the life of one of the two greatest of the Romanov rulers (the other being Peter the Great about whom Massie also wrote). Catherine came to Russia as a young woman who had no claim to the throne except as the wife of the future Tsar, Peter. She embraced all things Russian and endeared herself to the population and the military. This relationship paid huge dividends when it became apparent
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2012:
This is an excellently written biography. It is even more interesting because I know so little of Russian history.
I loved the organization of the book, not strictly chronilogical, but in topics of different parts of Catherine's life but it still starts with her childhood and ends with her death. Loved the writing, loved this book.
I received a copy of this book free from The History Book Club on GoodReads. ...more
This is an excellently written biography. It is even more interesting because I know so little of Russian history.
I loved the organization of the book, not strictly chronilogical, but in topics of different parts of Catherine's life but it still starts with her childhood and ends with her death. Loved the writing, loved this book.
I received a copy of this book free from The History Book Club on GoodReads. ...more
I owe Massie a huge debt as reading Nicholas and Alexandra was what caused me to fall in love with history. Here he has repeated the excellent and well-researched process for another of Russia's rulers, this time Catherine the Great (who wished to be called Catherine the Second while she was alive).
I was struck by how unfortunate it was that the French Revolution happened in her reign, which caused her to reverse her course of enlightened ruling out of fear that the revolution would endanger her ...more
I was struck by how unfortunate it was that the French Revolution happened in her reign, which caused her to reverse her course of enlightened ruling out of fear that the revolution would endanger her ...more
The story of the life of Catherine the Great, the last empress of Russia. Before reading this I knew precious little about 18th century Russia or its imperial rulers. This story was artfully told with depth, detail, and written in a way that was very engaging and held my interest. My image of imperial rulers is that they live sheltered, decadent lives with little concern for world affairs beyond their castle walls. Nothing could be further from the truth in this woman's story. I found it fascina
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As with his other books, Massie has written a wonderful, lively biography of an extraordinary woman.
Massie is an excellent author. He brought Catherine, the Great to life for me. Her early life was a portrait in patience and endurance. I was sad to learn that her early hopes for change, in particular freeing the serfs, were thwarted by the same economic concerns George Washington had many years later. Overall, a fascinating study on development of one woman from her tender teenage years to her powerful older years.
My interest in this book was piqued after hearing an interview about it with the author on NPR. I was not disappointed.
What an amazing biography, and what an amazing woman.
What an amazing biography, and what an amazing woman.
This is a well written biography of Catherine the Great of Russia. She was a German princess who married the heir to the Russian throne and ruled the country for more 30 years through wars and revolt and the American and French revolutions. This also serves a good history of Russia during this period. What Catherine accomplished is amazing, but I think Massie somerimes is generous to Catherine in his interpretation of events.
Mar 30, 2012
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