Catherine the Great

by Ian Grey

Catherine II of Russia was the most remarkable monarch of the eighteenth century. New York Times bestselling historian Ian Grey paints an illuminating portrait of an enigmatic woman of compelling charm and elegance. She had a prodigious appetite for work, great curiosity, and boundless ambition and vanity, and she was notorious for the number of her lovers. Her prodigal expenditures and patronage of the arts made her reign an era of splendor while her foreign policy and conquests carried Russian power and prestige to new heights. She cast a spell over most of her contemporaries in Russia and in Western Europe, and the spell has lingered. Here, in this book, is the dramatic story of an obscure German princess, without beauty or special advantage, but with courage, charisma, and determination, who became one of the arbiters of the affairs of Europe and renowned in history.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Russia, Royalty, Memoir

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 1975

About the author

Ian Grey (5 May 1918 – 5 June 1996) was a New Zealand-born historian of Russian history.

He began his career as a lawyer, a member of the New South Wales Bar. In 1941 he joined the Australian navy and was posted at Naval Intelligence of the Admiralty in London, then serving in the Soviet Union as an officer. He served for two and a half years in the Russian north, acting as a liaison for British Destroyers of the Soviet Navy in the Arctic. He also served as Deputy Secretary-General and the editor of publications of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Headquarters Secretariat from 1966 until his retirement. In 1971 he established the Parliamentary Information and Reference Centre.

Reviews

[CK DesGrosseilliers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me take Grey to task over how he shows Catharine’s love life. First, she was not “oversexed”. Second, the variety of lovers was more to protect her position than for boredom. Third, how many male leaders of the time had such freedom to love or f*€k who they wanted?

Bringing stereotypical, old-fashioned ideas of female sexuality to a biography of one of the world’s most powerful women will undermine all other points made.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The facts about Catherine the Great’s life were incredibly interesting to read. However, including both covert and overt sexism in a book thats only job is to detail the life of a famous and powerful historical woman was definitely an odd choice.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

My tenth book completed during quarantine (wow, I can’t wait till things get back to normal). I enjoyed this historical biography so much. I’ve always had a deep fascination with Russia and their cultures, but reading this book about Catherine The Great has only whet my appetite for me. Thankfully this book left out most of the tawdry scandal that was attached to Catherine, and truly focused in on why she was considered “Catherine The Great”. As a woman she was a monarch to be feared and respected and never let anything stand in her way. If you like historical in depth readings on powerful women in history, this is the perfect book for you.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written

The author presented a description of Catherine's personal life without getting bogged down in salacious details. She was a paradox that defines any simple description, but he manages to give a balanced view of her reign . As he pointed out, her reign made the Russian revolution inevitable.

[June Kimball · Rating 3 out of 5]

June Kimball & Goodreads

At times it felt like a summary of events with a lot to digest. Kindle version would have benefitted greatly with maps of 18th century Russia and Europe. It would have made it easier to follow.

[Robert II · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best biography of Empress Catherine I've yet read (and I've read 4 this year) in its balance of thoroughness and brevity. Grey does a good job of avoiding the biographer's trap of trying to shoehorn in every amusing anecdote, and sticks to the meat and potatoes as it were, focusing less on Catherine's personal life and far more on her record as a statesman (stateswoman?)
Two things make this book stand out. One is the fact that the author makes no attempt to try and give a comprehensive list of the neverending parade of favorites (Ermolov and Lanskoy are not mentioned once, and Zavadovsky and Mamonov get only passing mentions). There is an implication that the author considered the task of organizing the men in Catherine's life to be an undertaking too immense for his book, and he seems content to state that after Potemkin there were many others but few meant anything.
The other thing that stands out is that the author seems unimpressed by Catherine's performance as empress, and this is what makes the book unique. Others who criticize Catherine (such as Henri Troyat) do so on moral grounds, either for her sex life or for the fact that she never quite got around to answering "the Serfdom Issue." But Grey openly declares his disapproval for Catherine's restructuring of Russia's alliances (which he blames for both Russo-Turkish wars), and regularly contrasts Catherine's reforms (which he portrays as being rather superficial) against those of Peter the Great.
I'm not sure I agree with all of the points the author makes, but it makes a delightful companion volume on the shelf next to Virginia Rounding's biography of Catherine (subtitled "Love, Sex and Power"). Between this one and that one, a reader can get a decently holistic view of how Catherine's life as an 18th century noblewoman and her life as the autocrat of Russia intertwined, and the contrast of Grey's possibly overblown cynicism with Rounding's sometimes a bit too flowery praise makes a good "both sides of the issue" view.

[Giselle Roeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine the Great

It ls hard to believe that this insignificant young German princess had it in her to continue and even surpass Peter the Great. A woman at a time when only few women would have the chance to emancipate themselves. She made Russia into a GREAT country, through diplomacy or wars she added lands, she obliterated Poland toward the end of her life. Shocked by the French revolution she even used more repressive methods against the few who dared to talk about liberalism. She, who had been greatly admired across Europe, found an end to her life that I did not expect: a stroke. She must not have expected that her end was near, she had not made provisions for an heir she loved and trusted. She had planned a future for her grandson, foregoing her son. But this, maybe her last wish, did not happen.

[Alan Lampe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Grey gives a wonderful review of Catherine the Great’s life. She ruled Russia not long after Peter. She spent money (or rubles) like no one else, and let her serfs suffer by working the most to pay for her excessive living style. Wish he had included maps so that we could see how far Catherine and her armies traveled in any given season. Also, Ian uses a few Russian words that are not defined very well in context. Still, a lot to learn from this book.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book portrays both the negative and positive aspects of her reign. She is called the great because of her diplomatic and military successes. However she pretended to liberalize the institution of serfdom while absolving the nobles of responsibility and making the every day life of serfs harder. This eventually led to the Russian revolution.

[Steven D. Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read.

Easy to digest the history and absorb the character of Catherine.
I'm not one for biographical books, but this one compelled me to pick it up and continue.

[Blubonnet1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

02/12/2023

[Oby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on the topic for those aspire to know much and have little time

The book is interesting enough, though far from being a academic work, and it’s hard to tell how accurate the facts are. It does’nt pretend to be academic, of course, so no reproach to the author. On the positive side, the book is short (BIG advantage in this case) and readable. I quite enjoyed it and certainly have a much better understanding and knowledge of Catherine the Great and her times.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about Catherine's life since I did not know much about her. I had visited her palace in Russia several years ago and it was beautiful. She was beloved by the Russian people and she was very political savvy. Catherine was a strong, intelligent woman who made it her business to be self educated.