ladyofthelake68's review
4.0
Wonderfully written and kept me fully engaged! I am relatively new to this genre but I loved how this book tackled Catherine's life in series of connected ideas instead of solely chronologically. It made the read enjoyable and helped emphasize the many facets of her life without allowing something like her love life to overshadow her politics or vice versa. --Highly recommend!
internationalkris's review
3.0
Over the last few weeks I have been listening to the audio version of Catherine the Great: portrait of a woman on Overdrive. I'm about half way into it now but I'm going to take a break. I found the beginning to be really compelling and fast-paced as Elizabeth consolidated power a few years after the death of her father Peter the Great and as both young Peter and Sophie (who would become Catherine) were brought from Germany to Russia. The narrative kept my attention through the births of Catherine's children, but the current period of time when the reader is left waiting the wings for a path to her destiny to open is dragging on me too much. I think I'll find a copy of the book (672 pages!) and jump ahead to the period of her life when she has a lot more agency to rule with her own vision. If you want a deeply detailed portrait of an amazing ruler then this well-researched tome should be ideal.
kfrig's review
4.0
Catherine the Great was a fascinating, well written, intriguing story of one of the most influential women in history. Both the story and the prose were so compelling I had trouble putting it down at night.