“This was a great book written about the woman who was born to a minor noble family in Prussia and ended up Empress of Russia. She was intelligent, focused, ambitious, compassionate and very open minded. She had friendships with Empress of Austria, Voitaire, Diderot, Frederick the Great, and American naval hero, John Paul Jones. Catherine saw herself as the "benevolent despot". One of the real challenges and heart aches of her life was serfdom. She tried to work with the nobles to end this terrible state but found it to be so ingrained into Russian society that it didn't disappear until the revolution. Her mother was a schemer and her husband was weak and a bully and she was not intimate with him although she did have a mistress. This is an epic story of a woman who tried to be the best ruler she was capable of being. She was far from perfect but did a lot for Russia and the people.”
khabira wrote this review Wednesday, February 1, 2012.
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