A veeery detailed account. But it looks like the author sympathizes with his heroine.

Most of the book had me very interested. I don't know much about Russian history and it was nice to learn so many new things. I had to force myself near the end unfortunately. Also, I was not at all interested in the sexual deviancy of a philosopher. It wasn't necessary to add those details, in my opinion. ( )

I don't know why I didn't post a review for myself here. Probably because I (rightly, so far) knew this book had ignited an undying passion in me for more Massie and more Habsburgs. I am waiting for my next cycle of biography and/or history thirst to read another Massie book, but I spent atweeks delving into wikipedia and its bibliography lists/links all while filling my "Kim Academy" journal with notes. I think about Catherine often. ( )

The back cover of this book used several one word descriptions to describe it. "Enthralling, Masterful, Admirable, Riveting, & Compelling. All of these are totally applicable descriptions of the book, but since this is a book about Catherine The Great, why did no one include the most obvious adjective? Since no one did, I will. Great ! ( )

I listened to this as an audiobook and I'm not sure if I would have responded the same way to reading it in print. It's wonderfully researched and engaging but it also seemed repetitive and sometimes I felt Massie was patronizing Catherine, like when he would comment on her looks or her romances. As a historian he set Catherine in a complex political world without judging her prejudices or personal behavior by modern standards (like her neglect of her son or her aggression toward Turkey and Poland). Yet somehow despite its length and detail the book ends up feeling rather slight. ( )