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...

• 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.