Product Description

Empress of the vast Russian Empire by the age of 33, Catherine's private and public life generated tremendous contemporary controversy, and she has subsequently been portrayed variously as a political genius, a despotic foreign adventuress, a tyrant, and a nymphomaniac. Drawing on little-known sources, including Catherine's billets doux , John Alexander has produced a much-needed balanced appraisal and popular biography of one of the most powerful, infamous, and colourful figures in modern history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #258630 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 456 pages

Customer Reviews

Still no definitive Catherine biography
Considering the impact Catherine II had on the course of Russian history it is disappointing that we are still awaiting the definitive biography of her (somehwere along the lines of Robert K. Massie's of Peter The Great - a tall order I know).
John T Alexander's book is clearly the most complete on Catherine, his mastery of the facts of her rule is quite impressive, but the organisation of this book and Alexander's writing style are not.
The biography is arranged in almost chronological style, but chapters are arranged thematically. As Alexander does little to flesh out the rack of names, this quickly leads to confusion as one finds oneself scanning back and forth between chapters in an attempt to recreate some sense of the complete chronology. Cramming Catherine's contributions to the legislature in one chapter may help one studying exactly this aspect but it may leave the general reader bewildered as to what Catherine did when.
Alexander's greatest failing is his leaden prose which sadly only really comes to life when discussing the Empress's sexual excess. This area has however been discussed at length in many other books. The general effect of his flat style is to make this biography feel far longer than its 470 pages.
If you want a general introduction to Catherine The Great, this is not it. Simon Dixon's book, though not as thorough, rattles along and is far more readable and is probably the best place to start. After that Simon Sebag Montefiore's book on Potemkin and Catherine's relationship, although slightly tabloidy, actually evokes the era (though deals with a shorter period) far better than any of the books on Catherine.

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.