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kmhst25's review against another edition
4.0
This is an absolute page-turner for the most part, but an early note in my reading journal says, "Some comments feel sexist," and it never improves. Once she becomes Empress, Massie has a tendency to cheapen Catherine's decisions, not assign her full credit, and frame all situations in terms of her feelings. He seems insistent on framing her as "a woman," to the point where one begins to wonder if the original title of the book wasn't "Catherine the Great: Just a Woman."
This, in itself, is minor, but several one-off comments and longer tangents have a more unsavory tone. For example, when discussing Catherine trying to find time in her busy schedule to spend with her lover, he says, "This was all the time she could spare to be a man's plaything." He later tells you that Catherine never recorded any specifics about her sexual relationships, so this comment does not appear to be informed by anything. What are the author's notions of male-female sexuality that that is how he frames an Empress sleeping with her lover?
Later, he takes a four page detour from Catherine's story to discuss whether or not a rear admiral in her navy raped a ten-year-old girl. He also takes a four chapter detour to talk about her lover and military leader, Potemkin. He clearly idolizes Potemkin and has no reservations about calling him a genius. However, Massie also reveals that Potemkin had affairs with three of his young nieces. When his mother opposed these relationships, he laughed at her and burned her letters. So the glowing tone of these four chapters feels somewhat strange, given that Catherine is never painted with such an illustrious brush.
Taken altogether, this book leaves the same impression as a beloved male friend or family member regaling you with a vivid, fascinating story, that unfortunately also reveals things in his character that you hadn't wished to know of and had rather hoped that he didn't possess.
This, in itself, is minor, but several one-off comments and longer tangents have a more unsavory tone. For example, when discussing Catherine trying to find time in her busy schedule to spend with her lover, he says, "This was all the time she could spare to be a man's plaything." He later tells you that Catherine never recorded any specifics about her sexual relationships, so this comment does not appear to be informed by anything. What are the author's notions of male-female sexuality that that is how he frames an Empress sleeping with her lover?
Later, he takes a four page detour from Catherine's story to discuss whether or not a rear admiral in her navy raped a ten-year-old girl. He also takes a four chapter detour to talk about her lover and military leader, Potemkin. He clearly idolizes Potemkin and has no reservations about calling him a genius. However, Massie also reveals that Potemkin had affairs with three of his young nieces. When his mother opposed these relationships, he laughed at her and burned her letters. So the glowing tone of these four chapters feels somewhat strange, given that Catherine is never painted with such an illustrious brush.
Taken altogether, this book leaves the same impression as a beloved male friend or family member regaling you with a vivid, fascinating story, that unfortunately also reveals things in his character that you hadn't wished to know of and had rather hoped that he didn't possess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Slavery, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Rape, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child death, Infertility, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Torture
Rape is discussed several times throughout the book. There are no detailed desciptions of any specific rape, but the rapes that are mentioned briefly are often disturbing.
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