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

4.0

This is the first book I've read on Russian history as an adult and I really appreciate the way Massie has woven together the tapestry of both Catherine the Great's story and those that surrounded and influenced her. While the story is fairly linear for the early part of Catherine's life, taking a more direct route based on her diaries, the later sections of the book that focus on her life as the Empress of Russia skip around to people and political topics that were key to her reign. The inclusion of the interplay of concurrent events outside of Russia gives additional context to the forces at work in the world around her. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Russian history or European history in the 1700's.