Catherine the Great

Resumen del libro

The Pulitzer-winning biographer of Nicholas and Alexandra and of Peter the Great, Massie now relates the life of a minor German princess, Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst, who became Empress Catherine II of Russia (17291796). She was related through her ambitious mother to notable European royalty; her husband-to-be, the Russian grand duke Peter, was the only living grandson of Peter the Great. As Massie relates, during her disastrous marriage to Peter, Catherine bore three children by three different lovers, and she and Peter were controlled by Peters all-powerful aunt, Empress Elizabeth, who took physical possession of Catherines firstborn, Paul. Six months into her husbands incompetent reign as Peter III, Catherine, 33, who had always believed herself superior to her husband, dethroned him, but probably did not plan his subsequent murder, though, Massie writes, a shadow of suspicion hung over her. Confident, cultured, and witty, Catherine avoided excesses of personal power and ruled as a benevolent despot. Magnifying the towering achievements of Peter the Great, she imported European culture into Russia, from philosophy to medicine, education, architecture, and art. Effectively utilizing Catherines own memoirs, Massie once again delivers a masterful, intimate, and tantalizing portrait of a majestic monarch.

Biografía del autor

Robert K. Massie nació en Lexington, Kentucky, y estudió historia Americana en Yale e historia europea en Oxford. Presidió la Authors Guild entre 1987 a 1991. Entre sus libros destacan Nicolás y Alejandra (1ª ed., Plaza x{0026} 38; Janés, 1972; Ediciones B, 2004), Pedro el Grande (ganador del Premio Pulitzer de biografía; Alianza Editorial, 1987), Los Romanovs: capítulo fi nal (Thassàlia, 1997)