A review by beth_zovko
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

3.0

I listened to this book and found it very, very engaging. Non-fiction can be dry but Massie did a nice job of treating her life as an unfolding story. He used Catherine's own diaries to frame the story, which lent to the feeling of being an eye witness to history. However, the second half of the book is not as rich as the first (Catherine's diaries stop in her mid-twenties) and also feels rushed. There's not much mention of her dealings with Europe or America, and Potempkin is treated almost as an afterthought. Massie did give compelling descriptions of Catherine's coup, her lovers, and most importantly, her relationship with her son, Paul. All in all, I would recommend this to history nerds as opposed to someone looking for an 'in-a-nutshell' story, as the CDB was 19 discs (the book is 650, I think.) It was a time investment, but one that was worth it.