catherinethegreat

jenniferw88

Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great Defied a Deadly Virus | Lucy Ward

#52bookclub24 #52booksin52weeks

36 likes

annahenke

The Winter Palace | Eva Stachniak

#wintergames #teamreindeergames 6 pts

A cute royal romance - completely ridiculous but loveable. On Prime.

@liseworks @kezzlou85 @jessclark78 @karons1 @toriestories @matchlessmarie @aperfectmjk @clwojick @staycurious @Bluebird

34 likes

Cedar_and_Grapefruit

Empress of the Night: A Novel of Catherine the Great | Eva Stachniak

so-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. 😮‍💨

2 likes

Kaag

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman | Robert K. Massie

pick

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

ChaoticMissAdventures

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman | Robert K. Massie

pick

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

ChaoticMissAdventures

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman | Robert K. Massie

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

andrew61

A Woman Loved: A Novel | Andre� Makine

#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! 3y

37 likes1 comment

charl08

Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great Defied a Deadly Virus | Lucy Ward

More dangerous reading....

#MonthofReadingDeferral

Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍🏻❤️stacking 3y

43 likes1 stack add1 comment

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