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Catherine the Great Portrait of a Woman Robert K Massie Books

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Catherine the Great Portrait of a Woman Robert K Massie Books

One of the BEST biographies I have EVER read. The maps were very useful. The entire story read like a novel but was still filled with essential & interesting facts. It was sad to read that Catherine repeated many of the same mistakes (which she swore she never would) that Elizabeth I committed concerning her immediate family when Catherine was under her tutelage. I especially liked the idea of short chapters with breaks within those chapters. So much easier to read than the usual "History Book" with a zillion pages, too many facts & footnotes, & ponderous prose. A welcome change. Would give it TEN stars! Massie's other books are very similar: informative, well-written, but eminently readable.


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Catherine the Great Portrait of a Woman Robert K Massie Books Reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed Robert K. Massie's biogrpahies of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexander, and the last imperial family, but I hadn't thought I would be interested in Catherine the Great Portrait of a Woman as nothing I'd previously read or heard about her made a favorable impression. (I might also have been hampered by a third-grade prejudice involving a classmate who wanted to be known as Catherine the Great!) Like many prejudices, that particular one denied me the pleasure of reading this book earlier.

I don't know that I will ever be an admirer of Catherine, either as a woman or as an empress, but I certainly have a much greater understanding of her, both as a woman and as an empress, and of her contributions to Russia and Europe. Like his other histories, Massie's biography of this German-born princess is thoroughly researched and engagingly written. It is as pleasant to read as any novel, yet far more challenging to the mind than most novels . . . and some histories. Massie is adept at drawing fully detailed portraits of his subjects and those closest to them, showing us both the strenghts and weakness that make a character wholly human instead of a legend from long ago.

Before reading this, I never truly understood how Catherine was able to ascend to the Russian throne. I do now. Nor did I truly understand why she was honored with "the great" attached to her name. I do now, and Massie has convinced me that this epithet is deserved. This is a great history, stretching from her birth to a mother who was disappointed with a daughter, through years of unconsummated marriage to a difficult man-child under the jealous eye of his imperial aunt, and into her long reign. It truly is a portrait, not only of a woman who happened to become a great empress, but also of her reign, and of those closest to her.

I doubt if one can truly understand Russian history without learning what Massie has written about Catherine. I visited an exhibit in Memphis, many years ago, based on her reign, and, while awed by the many beautiful objects, was left with no real understanding of this woman and what she meant to Russia.

I highly recommend this to readers who are interested in biography, history and/or Russia.
Massie has written several books about the rulers of Russia including Nicholas, Peter the Great, and now Catherine the Great. I've thoroughly enjoyed each one, learning about extremely interesting and historically important figures. Catherine led a semi tragic life before she became the empress of Russia. Married to an immature prince from Germany, who had no plans of embracing Russia, including it's language, religion, army, or culture. Unlike Catherine, who also came from Germany, but strove to learn the language, convert to the Russian Orthodox, church, and made an effort to get to know whatever Russians she was allowed to have contact. Her personal life was a lot racier than one would expect from someone in her position, but given her personal history, understandable.
Admittedly, I don’t know much about Russian History, so I’m not in a position to judge Robert K. Massie’s Catherine the Great Portrait of a Woman on accuracy, but I read and thoroughly enjoyed his books on the World War I naval war, so I have no reason to doubt his accuracy when it comes to Catherine the Great. So much of what you see about Catherine the Great is about her sexuality, so it was wonderful to read about her ideas and how and why they changed throughout her reign and about her accomplishments. She’s such a fascinating subject and Massie did a great job describing what developed and formed her personality and how her experiences changed her thoughts from childhood to Empress then over her reign as Empress. Since Catherine was a Western European taking an Eastern European throne, Massie does a great job showing how it disadvantaged her and how she overcame her subject’s suspicions. He also does a wonderful job fitting in the complicated relationship between Russia and the rest of Europe and how the two influenced each other. If you’re a fan of History or Biography, this is definitely a book to put on your reading list.
One of the BEST biographies I have EVER read. The maps were very useful. The entire story read like a novel but was still filled with essential & interesting facts. It was sad to read that Catherine repeated many of the same mistakes (which she swore she never would) that Elizabeth I committed concerning her immediate family when Catherine was under her tutelage. I especially liked the idea of short chapters with breaks within those chapters. So much easier to read than the usual "History Book" with a zillion pages, too many facts & footnotes, & ponderous prose. A welcome change. Would give it TEN stars! Massie's other books are very similar informative, well-written, but eminently readable.