Catherine the Great : Portrait of a Woman

from the.ken.petersen

This book is a strong contender for my book of the year. I am not an historian; I have, or perhaps should say had, no particular interest in Catherine the Great, simply reading this to cover another vast area of my ignorance. I particularly enjoyed the way in which Mr Massie made his cast of char...

from brenzi

Being mostly a reader of literary fiction, I had been trying to expand my reading choices to include more non-fiction so some time ago (long before LT) I googled "non-fiction that reads like fiction" and discovered many books that appealed to me. Had this book been published at that time, it cert...

from itbgc

Robert Massie has written another outstanding biography--Catherine the Great. From the first page to the last, I was totally captivated by the stories of the highly intelligent, powerful Catherine II and the people around her, including her crazy husband and her lovers. (Fortunately, "the bedroom...

from LiteraryFeline

I confess I am not particularly enamored by royalty, whether past or present. And so when it comes to reading about the royalty (fiction or nonfiction), I tend to steer clear unless a book comes highly recommended. Add to it the fact I am not a big biography fan. I have read really good ones and ...

from stellarexplorer

Massie's new Catherine the Great is a highly readable account of a life and of a colorful period in Russian history. He set a high standard with Peter the Great, which was a singular achievement. While Catherine does not climb to those heights, it is still a delight, certainly for the reader less...