Catherine the Great: Life and Legend

by John T. Alexander

Book Overview

One of the most colorful characters in modern history, Catherine II of Russia began her life as a minor German princess, until the childless Empress Elizabeth and Catherine's own scheming mother married her off to the Grand Duke Peter of Russia at age sixteen. By thirty-three, she had overthrown her husband in a bloodless coup and established herself as Empress of the multinational Russian Empire, the largest territorial political unit in modern history.
Portrayed both as a political genius who restored to Russia the glory it had known in the days of Peter the Great and as a despotic foreign adventuress who usurped the Russian throne, murdered her rivals, and tyrannized her subjects, she was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Catherine the Great, the first popular biography of the empress based on contemporary scholarship, provides a vivid portrait of Catherine as a mother, a lover, and, above all, an extremely savvy ruler. Concentrating on her long reign (1762-96), John Alexander examines all aspects of Catherine's life and career: the brilliant political strategies by which she won the acceptance of a nationalistic elite; her expansive foreign policy; the domestic reforms with which she revamped the Russian military, political structure, and economy; and, of course, her infamous love life.
Beginning with an account of the dramatic palace revolt by which Catherine unseated her husband and a background chapter describing the circumstances of her early childhood and marriage, Alexander then proceeds chronologically through the thirty-four years of her reign. Presenting Catherine in more human terms than previous biographers have, Alexander includes numerous quotations from her reminiscences and notes. We learn, for instance, not only the names and number of her lovers, but her understanding of what many considered a shocking licentiousness. "The trouble is," she wrote, "that my heart would not willingly remain one hour without love."
The result of twenty years' research by one of America's leading narrative historians of modern Russia, this truly impressive work offers a much-needed, balanced reappraisal of one of history's most scandal-ridden figures.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195052366
• ISBN13: 9780195052367
• Release Date: November 1988
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The Best Biography of Catherine II I've Seen

Alexander does a marvelous job retelling history without sensationalizing it. Many past biographers undertaking the job of writing about Catherine the Great have often focused too much on her sexuality, rather than her political prowess. John T. Alexander, however, thoroughly examines the political and cultural context of her life, and refuses to insult the reader's intelligence by dishing gossip or repeating long-held opinions. Having read four other biographies of Catherine the Great, I can assure you this one is probably the best. Impartial, informative, and interesting.

academic but real history

First of all, contrary to the review now on line, this book was not written by John T. Williams, whoever he is, but by John T. Alexander. This biography is a much more serious and learned biography than Henri Troyat's, which I read in 1987. This book has dull parts, but the story it tells is an incredible one. Catherine had an amazing career, and of course her parade of favorites is legendary. I found this book to be good academic history and it well deserves reading.

Brian Wayne Wells, Reviews Catherine the Great

Some political leaders of the past continue to suffer from disparaging images which were unjustly created about them during their lifetimes. One such polictial leader was Catherine II Czarina of the Russian Empire from 1762 until her death in 1796. Her supposed sexual appitite has been much discussed and bantied about by later historians who should have known better. Some of the most outrageous rumors have been taken as absolute fact regarding the life of Catherine. History as a discipline and area of investigation and study has been the worse for this tendency. John T. Williams has successfully chased down the source of many of the rumors that surround Catherine II. Many times he finds that the rumors were intentionally started by British intelligence services of that day. Prior to the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian Empire was a traditional ally of France. Because of the rivaly between Britain and France, Russia was often at odds with British interests. Moreover, Russian expansion in Asia brought Russian and British interests into conflict over India, Afganistan and Turkey. Consequently, she being the head of a competing empire, Catherine was the natural target for rumor mongering by the British government. However, for an accurate historical record, William's book does a great service. Historians have a duty to history as a discipline, to investigate sources. Catherine's life has long needed a worthy study to take on the emmense task of sorting out fact from fiction. John T. Williams has done a very fine job in performing this task.