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#catherinethegreat
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annahenke
The Winter Palace | Eva Stachniak
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review
Cedar_and_Grapefruit
Mehso-so

I was hopeful this would be an exciting story from Catherine the Great 's POV. It has good reviews, but it left me empty. Even her role in the coup lacked drama and excitement, focusing instead on the importance of the clothes she wore. Silly me bought the whole series at once. Let's see if The Winter Palace changes my mind on this writing style. Fingers crossed. 😮‍💨

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Kaag
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Pickpick

Robert K. Massie always brings out the human side in his biographies. That personal touch makes all the difference because it makes historical figures feel like people who lived lives rather than statues who did great or terrible or mediocre things.

Kaag Sophia, or Catherine, is presented as a worthy leader in the mold of Peter the Great but with her own advantages and disadvantages in comparison. Her upbringing and her marriage that was never consummated (this went on for years… 8 if I remember correctly) shaped her emotional self. 2y
Kaag I gather much has been made of her relations with men in other histories of Catherine the Great but what Massie does is present us with a portrait of an ambitious woman starved of affection and intellectual discourse. (edited) 2y
Kaag Does she deserve the title Catherine the Great? She was forward thinking and always seeking out the great philosophers of the age Voltaire and Diderot, she was a extravagant patron of the arts, buying hundreds of paintings from Europe. I get the impression she would have liked to free the serfs but was too pragmatic to do so. (edited) 2y
Kaag She was convinced not to because of the chaos and anger it would have unleashed. Meaning she wanted to stay in power and that would very much have been at stake if she released the serfs. So she made small advances but didn‘t risk it all for the moral good. But she did refuse to torture people in order to get confessions or information, shockingly progressive I must say! 2y
Kaag She also, with Potemkin as her point man, built cities on the Black Sea forever changing the landscape of Russia much like Peter the Great did with St. Petersburg. Overall, I think she is as deserving as most any leader of the moniker The Great.

Massie is three for three in my book with his biographies of Russian monarchs. Nicholas and Alexandra is still my favorite though.
2y
4 likes5 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Pickpick

I had a bit of a hard time concentrating on this one but I am unsure if it was me or the book.
I was very interested after watching Hulus The Great to see how much was true there (not much) and to see how Austria's Marie Theresa overlapped after reading a fantastic book on her earlier this year. The relationship with MT's son and Catherine was interesting, a long with all of her relationships I enjoyed learning about her fight for 👇👇👇

ChaoticMissAdventures Serf's rights and how that changed throughout her reign and also how she constantly pushed for freedom of religions even funding the building of Muslim mosques at times. 2y
21 likes1 comment
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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I am determined to get to the tagged book this month, it has been on my shelf for a couple of years now.

#bookspinbingo clean board for August!
@thearomaofbooks

CoverToCoverGirl It will definitely be an interesting read. I anticipate your review. 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Looks fantastic!! 2y
ChaoticMissAdventures @CoverToCoverGirl it has to be good. She was a fascinating person, and I have really liked the show The Great and find it interesting the facts they changed. Just hope the writing is not dry. 2y
25 likes3 comments
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andrew61
A Woman Loved: A Novel | Andre Makine
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#bookmoods #royalty #silence #inthemountains #setinthe60s
I've neglected this challenge after a burst of enthusiastic posting at the beginning of the month but its been a busy few weeks. So in no particular order I've gone thru my back list to reference Catherine The Great, Alan Turing (murmur is nearly slience), a ghost story in the himalayas, and a 60s folk rock group. Hopefully I'll finish June with a burst of posts !!!

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks No worries! Join when you can! 2y
37 likes1 comment
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charl08
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More dangerous reading....

#MonthofReadingDeferral

Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍🏻❤️stacking 2y
43 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
andrew61
A Woman Loved: A Novel | Andre Makine
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Pickpick

#aboutarealorfictionalroyal #booked2022
@Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage
Oleg is an aspiring screenwriter who produces a script abt Catherine The Great, mocked by his g/f for the detail, it finds favour inbthe 80s with the soviet film Committee but he is sacked mid prodn. Skip to the 90s and a new raunchy TV series begins in which he consults. As well as the story of Catherine this story goes into post war + post wall Russia.

BarbaraTheBibliophage Sounds intriguing! You pick such unique stuff! Thanks. 👍🏻📚 3y
andrew61 @BarbaraTheBibliophage thank you Barbara, the challenge is a perfect excuse to dip into that pile of books or find something new. 3y
42 likes2 comments