Background
Catherine the Great was the Empress of Russia during the time of the American Revolution. Robert Massie details her life from birth to death in just under 700 pages.
My Thoughts
This was a much better read than that of Elizabeth the II but the lives of the royals are pretty messed up. Maybe just from my perspective as a middle class American…
She led a pretty interesting and full life given the attitudes toward women. It seemed she played a good hand and things fell into place during her life. Oddly enough, there was a parallel with her daughter in law (Paul’s 2nd wife) and it makes me wonder what would have happened if she had been engaged to Peter instead of Catherine. By the account of the book, this other Sophia (later Maria) was well loved by everyone who met her.
It was an interesting read. I didn’t know so many things were going on in the world at that point. My education was mostly in the West so I knew about the French Revolution and, of course, the American Revolution but I didn’t know much about the rest of the world and how they viewed it.
Recommendation
I would recommend it!