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Elizabeth and Catherine: Empresses of All the Russias
Imperial Russia is brought brilliantly to life in a glittering mosaic of color. The sagas of the most incredible rulers ever to perch on a throne are interwoven to present a story as action-packed, suspenseful & scandalous as any bestseller could hope to be. Filled with facts that would be scoffed at in fiction, scintillating with portraits of a multitude of people as incredible as the Empresses themselves.
347 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 10, 2018
Picked this up in a charity shop, knowing almost nothing about Russian history.
I was expecting a quick read but this is honestly one of the best books I've read all year: it is extremely disappointing that Robert Coughlan's output has been so limited, as he was obviously a gifted popular history writer. The work is impressively easy to read - almost like a novel, and so makes a great introduction to the period and the setting. The cast and characters are brought vividly to life via anecdote and letter and diary, so that you feel you come to know the whole Russian Court over the period of these two remarkable Empresses' lives. That this is done via mostly quoting from source material is impressive - directly quoting primary sources rarely helps build such a coherent narrative.
The book is doubly startling for the drama of its material. Catherine the Great must be one of the most remarkable people ever to live. Her force of will, her vivacity and her intelligence - as well as her flaws - are almost unbelievable. That little Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (her birth name) can rise through guile and conspiracy to become the Empress of Russia is startling - and that she can do so whilst assembling one of the greatest art collections in the world, being so sexually liberated, and also whilst finding time to correspond with Voltaire and meet Diderot, compounds the wonder.
Made me want to go and read more about this incredible period of history.
I was expecting a quick read but this is honestly one of the best books I've read all year: it is extremely disappointing that Robert Coughlan's output has been so limited, as he was obviously a gifted popular history writer. The work is impressively easy to read - almost like a novel, and so makes a great introduction to the period and the setting. The cast and characters are brought vividly to life via anecdote and letter and diary, so that you feel you come to know the whole Russian Court over the period of these two remarkable Empresses' lives. That this is done via mostly quoting from source material is impressive - directly quoting primary sources rarely helps build such a coherent narrative.
The book is doubly startling for the drama of its material. Catherine the Great must be one of the most remarkable people ever to live. Her force of will, her vivacity and her intelligence - as well as her flaws - are almost unbelievable. That little Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (her birth name) can rise through guile and conspiracy to become the Empress of Russia is startling - and that she can do so whilst assembling one of the greatest art collections in the world, being so sexually liberated, and also whilst finding time to correspond with Voltaire and meet Diderot, compounds the wonder.
Made me want to go and read more about this incredible period of history.
September 14, 2007
Beautiful retelling of two of the strongest women in Russia's history. The author obviously did a lot or research, even reading letters written by the Czarinas, and used them to enlighten the reader into the personality and lives of the egnimatic queens.
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July 8, 2026i think i'm discovering that i love a courtly drama- this was immensely interesting to me, because of both the subject matter and Coughlan's writing. He adeptly weaved the many different storylines of history together in a way that was both easy-to-understand and exciting (though i did have to give myself some footnotes for myself to follow). if any part of me was worried this book would be a slog, that was proven false. i got this at a library sale last summer for free, and i'm so glad i did!! the beginning of this book has a disclaimer of sorts clarifying that this is a well-researched "narrative," not a historigraphical work, this seemed to me a thorough and factual retelling of this period of history. i'm just so impressed by this book! he is able to chop up around a century of artistic, societal, military, etc. history into separate chapters, while also giving interesting and succint descriptions of the characters we meet (which is a lot...). the chapters end in witty cliffhangers, and the historical figures feel incredibly real and the relationship you develop is intimate. i did take a step back a couple times to reflect on how accurate his description of these women were (sometimes using stereotypes of a "femme fatale" or relying on "innate" female characteristics like motherhood), but on the whole i felt that he did justice to these complex and intelligent women (but i'm no russian history expert so idk...). i wrote down many names and places that i want to read more about. i think the main thing this book did for me is whet my appetite for more russian history. overall, i loved it!
February 12, 2021
DNF 1/3 of the way through
i’m really not the target demographic or whatever, this book is prolly a bit to advanced and complex for me. i really struggled to get through it (i stopped picking it up like 5 months ago), just the language and everything i think. i picked it up at a consignment shop, mildly intrigued by the russian history and female monarchs aspects of it, and the whole royal court aesthetic; hopefully i’ll be able to pick it up again in the future and actually get through it.
i’m really not the target demographic or whatever, this book is prolly a bit to advanced and complex for me. i really struggled to get through it (i stopped picking it up like 5 months ago), just the language and everything i think. i picked it up at a consignment shop, mildly intrigued by the russian history and female monarchs aspects of it, and the whole royal court aesthetic; hopefully i’ll be able to pick it up again in the future and actually get through it.
January 12, 2019
This was excellent. It wasn't super in-depth, and if one was looking for a first biography of either of these ladies, this would be a good one to start with. Probably 70% is about Catherine, which I kind of expected. I especially enjoyed all the excerpts from her memoirs. Reading them really made me wish she hadn't stopped writing at such a young age.
October 14, 2020
Overall it kept my attention and delivered the facts, but I found the fairly frequent references to "womanliness" (as in, "she was very womanly" - what does that even mean?) and some mild stereotypes about women throughout to be very annoying if nothing more. I'm interested to read another history by a different author to see how they compare.
May 4, 2022
A wonderful, direct and thoroughly informative run-through of Russia from Peter the great's death to Catherine's death.
March 1, 2017
This book drew me many years ago by the title names, long beloved names chosen for two of my children. I put off delving into it, fearing a dry chronicle of Russian history. This book is anything but dry, filled as it is with unhappy marriages, affairs beyond number, maternal heartbreak, intrigue, war and murder.
The author makes history come alive especially in his tale of Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, who sought to carry on his legacy, and his chronicle of the metamorphosis of her successor into the person known as Catherine the Great. The iron will of these two eighteenth century monarchs is at the root of their astonishing accomplishments, though not attained without cost to those. drawn into their magnetic fields.
Catherine, a German princess selected by Elizabeth as wife for the heir to to the throne, arrives in Russia at age 15. Her transformation from a naive young foreigner, not at all sure of herself, to the ruler of a vast empire is carefully documented but flows like a novel. As with Elizabeth, the author does not hesitate to create a full portrait, detailing achievements along with serous personal flaws.
Yet, the portrait artist adds touches of humor to his observations and places his rich cast of characters in the context of their times, lest we be too judgmental. The interplay between weak male members of royalty with the strong purpose of their female counterparts provides a fascinating study in contrasts.
For readers who fear an impossible thicket of Russian names or the confusion of similarly named characters, the author has done his best to overcome these obstacles, so join the journey through a remarkable chapter of history!
The author makes history come alive especially in his tale of Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, who sought to carry on his legacy, and his chronicle of the metamorphosis of her successor into the person known as Catherine the Great. The iron will of these two eighteenth century monarchs is at the root of their astonishing accomplishments, though not attained without cost to those. drawn into their magnetic fields.
Catherine, a German princess selected by Elizabeth as wife for the heir to to the throne, arrives in Russia at age 15. Her transformation from a naive young foreigner, not at all sure of herself, to the ruler of a vast empire is carefully documented but flows like a novel. As with Elizabeth, the author does not hesitate to create a full portrait, detailing achievements along with serous personal flaws.
Yet, the portrait artist adds touches of humor to his observations and places his rich cast of characters in the context of their times, lest we be too judgmental. The interplay between weak male members of royalty with the strong purpose of their female counterparts provides a fascinating study in contrasts.
For readers who fear an impossible thicket of Russian names or the confusion of similarly named characters, the author has done his best to overcome these obstacles, so join the journey through a remarkable chapter of history!
September 18, 2016
I had of course heard of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, but not too much about them or their period in history so this book increased my knowledge greatly.
I thought it interesting that Peter divorced his first wife and married Catherine, a commoner who was somewhat of a camp follower that had been the mistress of several of his military
officers. She must have been an extraordinary woman. After his death, she ruled until she died.
When Catherine died, several of Peter's half brother's descendants ruled for a short time and
then Elizabeth the daughter of Peter and Catherine took control. She was religious and sentimental
but a determined and strong leader. She brought her dead sister's son, Paul to be groomed as
future czar. She also brought the daughter of the woman who would have been her sister-in-law if
her future husband had not died. This girl was Sophia who would have her name changed to
Catherine and become Catherine the Great. Elizabeth controlled and dictated the lives of Paul and
Catherine. They seemed to be compatible while they were thrown together as youngsters. Paul was
extremely immature and eventually they came to dislike each other. When they married it is
questionable if Paul was even the father of their child. They both had lovers. When the baby was
born, he was taken from the birthing room and Catherine did not see him for 3 months and very little after that. Elizabeth took control of him just as she had Paul and Catherine.
When Elizabeth died, Paul and Catherine became the rulers of Russia. Paul distrusted Catherine
and wanted to make his mistress Tsarina. Catherine struck first. Her lover and his brothers
abducted Paul, imprisoned him and he died under very suspicious circumstances. From then
on Catherine took over. She wanted to continue the dream of Peter the Great and expand Russia
to it's original boundaries. She had many lovers and in her later years always kept a much
younger favorite near her bed chamber.
Catherine was very successful in expanding Russia's borders. She was also a ardent art
collector buying up whole collections of art when the owners passed away or needed money.
She built many grand palaces and galleries. She seemed to be constantly at war. I can't
imagine how the economy of Russia was able to finance the extravagance. I realize
her subjects were probably highly taxed, but I still wonder how the people could
generate enough money for her expenses.
It's strange that in 2016 the US might elect it's first female president when these two
women as well as Queen Elizabeth of England governed so strongly
centuries ago.
I thought it interesting that Peter divorced his first wife and married Catherine, a commoner who was somewhat of a camp follower that had been the mistress of several of his military
officers. She must have been an extraordinary woman. After his death, she ruled until she died.
When Catherine died, several of Peter's half brother's descendants ruled for a short time and
then Elizabeth the daughter of Peter and Catherine took control. She was religious and sentimental
but a determined and strong leader. She brought her dead sister's son, Paul to be groomed as
future czar. She also brought the daughter of the woman who would have been her sister-in-law if
her future husband had not died. This girl was Sophia who would have her name changed to
Catherine and become Catherine the Great. Elizabeth controlled and dictated the lives of Paul and
Catherine. They seemed to be compatible while they were thrown together as youngsters. Paul was
extremely immature and eventually they came to dislike each other. When they married it is
questionable if Paul was even the father of their child. They both had lovers. When the baby was
born, he was taken from the birthing room and Catherine did not see him for 3 months and very little after that. Elizabeth took control of him just as she had Paul and Catherine.
When Elizabeth died, Paul and Catherine became the rulers of Russia. Paul distrusted Catherine
and wanted to make his mistress Tsarina. Catherine struck first. Her lover and his brothers
abducted Paul, imprisoned him and he died under very suspicious circumstances. From then
on Catherine took over. She wanted to continue the dream of Peter the Great and expand Russia
to it's original boundaries. She had many lovers and in her later years always kept a much
younger favorite near her bed chamber.
Catherine was very successful in expanding Russia's borders. She was also a ardent art
collector buying up whole collections of art when the owners passed away or needed money.
She built many grand palaces and galleries. She seemed to be constantly at war. I can't
imagine how the economy of Russia was able to finance the extravagance. I realize
her subjects were probably highly taxed, but I still wonder how the people could
generate enough money for her expenses.
It's strange that in 2016 the US might elect it's first female president when these two
women as well as Queen Elizabeth of England governed so strongly
centuries ago.
July 11, 2008
This one has more universal appeal than the previous, Catherine the Great. This is shorter and has accompanying time lines and a cast of characters reference page that makes it easier to keep all those foreign names straight.
June 22, 2009
I liked this more than I expected to. Catherine the Great was an interesting woman.
January 23, 2010
Interesting but a little dry.
September 26, 2012
I read this in 1976. It was very engrossing...
June 26, 2013
I read this in the late 70s and found it very interesting. It is my motivation to read the newer biography, Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman by Robert K Massie.
June 16, 2016
Very readable story for non-fiction, the author even makes asides as the events may relate to current (at least at the time of printing) events.
January 24, 2016
Paperback Donated April 2012
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews