The author of *Bloody Mary *presents a popular biography of the legendary Russian empress that emphasizes Catherine the Great's political ability, humanitarian inclinations, and other accomplishments. 20,000 first printing.

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### From Publishers Weekly

To her critics, Catherine the Great (1729-96), Empress of Russia, was an imperialist who eradicated Polish sovereignty and waged financially draining wars, an absolutist ruler who brought back the defunct secret police, an insatiable sexual adventuress and a possible accomplice in the murder of her husband Peter III. Historian and biographer Erickson ( Blood Mary ), in this sympathetic, vibrant portrait, presents a shrewd, headstrong, cultivated woman, a political reformer and supporter of education and the arts, who codified laws, built schools and asserted her independece in a land where women had low status. Born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, princess of a tiny German state, Catherine (the baptismal name she took upon joining the Russian Orthodox Church) rightly feared her tyrannical, drunken husband who wanted to dethrone her and replace her with his mistress. Catherine's menage a trois with Gregory Potemkin, her chief deputy, and her young Polish secretary, Peter Zavadovsky, elicited an avalanche of censure and gossip. Drawing on Catherine's memoirs and letters, Erickson has fashioned an engrossing, astonishingly vivid, if not always convincing portrait.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### From School Library Journal

YA?When the German Princess Sophia journeyed to the Russian court of Empress Elizabeth, the shy young woman could not have believed that she would transform herself into the powerful Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Clever, witty, and deeply devoted to her adopted country, Catherine would work to turn Russia toward the West by focusing on European life, customs, culture, and the arts. After being married to the weak, demented Grand Duke Peter, she suffered from constant abuse and intrigue at his hands, but she never let him destroy her courageous spirit and determination. While many biographers of this fascinating ruler have focused on Catherine's love life and the extravagances of the Russian court, Erickson has chosen to relate Catherine's story by emphasizing her ambition to govern wisely. The strong narrative moves along at a brisk pace without stinting on the vivid details that bring the court of 18th-century Imperial Russia into sharp focus. The author captures the intellectual and social milieu as well as the brilliant, often opulent lifestyle of Empress Catherine II. An accessible and engaging introduction to a great ruler and the country she sought to enlighten.?Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School Library, Upper Marlboro, MD
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.