The History Book Club discussion

This thread is a "spoiler thread" and is a bibliography thread which identifies many of the books which were referenced or used as primary documents during the writing of Catherine the Great Please feel free to add properly cited books (book covers, author's photo, and author's links). Add a review or a few words why this book is important to the subject matter, etc.; but remember there is no self promotion, etc. Any self promotion links or posts are removed.

Robert K. Massie

by Henri Troyat

This is a fairly thorough biography of Catherine that I read for a history class a few years back. The only major complaint I have is that Troyat based this book almost exclusively on Catherine's own memoirs, so his account is somewhat biased in her favor.

Great Tim and thank you.

by
Lindsey Hughes (no photo)

This is an excellent general biography of the entire Romanov dynasty. I highly recommend it as an introduction to the family that Catherine married into and the empire that she would eventually rule.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great's Russia
by Douglas Smith

Bibliography

Catherine the Great: Life and Legend
by John T. Alexander

Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
by Fred Anderson

Britain's Discovery of Russia, 1553-1815
Britain's Discovery of Russia, 1553-1815 (no cover photo) by M.S. Anderson

Catherine the Great
by Katharine Susan Anthony

Frederick the Great: The Magnificent Enigma
by Robert B. Asprey

Peter III, Emperor of Russia: The Story of a Crisis and a Crime
Peter III, Emperor of Russia: The Story of a Crisis and a Crime (no photo) by Robert Nisbet Bain

The Pupils of Peter the Great
by Robert Nisbet Bain

The Memoirs of Catherine the Great by Catherine the Great (multiple translation editions are referenced)

Elizabeth and Catherine
by Robert Coughlan

Maria Theresa
by Edward Crankshaw

Philosophers and Pamphleteers: Political Theorists of the Enlightenment
Philosophers and Pamphleteers: Political Theorists of the Enlightenment (no cover photo) by Maurice William Cranston

The Hermitage Museum Leningrad
by Pierre Descargues

Catherine the Great
by Simon Dixon

Frederick The Great: A Military Life and
Military Experience in the Age of Reason and Russia's Military Way to the West: Origins and Nature of Russian Military Power, 1700-1800
and and a by Christopher Duffy


Catherine the Great and the Russian Nobilty: A Study Based on the Materials of the Legislative Commission of 1767
Catherine the Great and the Russian Nobilty: A Study Based on the Materials of the Legislative Commission of 1767 (no cover photo) by Paul Dukes

Bibliography continued

Story of Civilization
by Will Durant

Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia
by
Orlando Figes

Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
by Helen Fisher

Catherine The Great And Other Studies
Catherine The Great And Other Studies (no cover photo) by G.P. Gooch

Catherine The Great And French Philosophers Of The Enlightenment: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot And Grim
Catherine The Great And French Philosophers Of The Enlightenment: Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot And Grim (no cover photo) by Inna Gorbatov

Catherine the Great: Autocrat and Empress of All Russia
Catherine the Great: Autocrat and Empress of All Russia (no cover photo) by Ian Grey

Catherine the Great: A Biography
by Joan Haslip

Frederick the Great of Prussia: Absolutism and Administration
Frederick the Great of Prussia: Absolutism and Administration by Walther Hubatsch

Catherine: The Portrait of an Empress
by Gina Kaus

Between Heaven and Hell
by W. Bruce Lincoln

The Three Empresses: Catherine I, Anne and Elizabeth of Russia
by Phillip Longworth

Paris in the Terror
by Stanley Loomis

Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great
and by Isabel de Madariaga

Secret Memoirs Of The Court Of Petersburg
Secret Memoirs Of The Court Of Petersburg (no cover photo) by Charles François Philibert Masson

Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner
by Simon Sebag Montefiore

John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography
by Samuel Eliot Morison

Catherine The Great
by Zoe Oldenbourg

Russia under the Old Regime
by Richard Pipes

The First Four Georges
The First Four Georges (no cover photo) by J.H. Plumb

Bibliography

Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia: The Eighteenth-Century Nobility and Catherine the Great: A Profile
and Catherine the Great: A Profile (no cover photo) both by Marc Raeff

The Politics of Catherinian Russia
The Politics of Catherinian Russia (no cover photo) by David L. Ransel

Documents of Catherine the Great: The Correspondence with Voltaire and the Instruction of 1767 in the English Text of 1768
Documents of Catherine the Great: The Correspondence with Voltaire and the Instruction of 1767 in the English Text of 1768 (no cover photo) by W. F. Reddaway

Elizabeth, Empress Of Russia
Elizabeth, Empress Of Russia (no cover photo) by Tamara Talbot Rice by

The Political Theory of Montesquieu
by Charles-Louis De Secondat Montesquieu

Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile
by Gerhard Ritter

Catherine the Great: Love, Sex and Power
by Virginia Rounding

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution
by Simon Schama

Catherine the Great and the Expansion of Russia
Gladys Scott Thomson

LOVE AND CONQUEST: PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE OF CATHERINE THE GREAT AND PRINCE GRIGORY POTEMKIN
by Douglas Smith

John Paul Jones
by Evan Thomas

Catherine The Great
by Henri Troyat

The Whig Supremacy, 1714-1760
by Basil Williams

The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800
by Jay Winik

The Romance of an Empress: Catherine II of Russia
The Romance of an Empress: Catherine II of Russia (no cover photo) by Kazimierz Waliszewski

The Poems, Prose and Plays by Alexander Pushkin
The Poems, Prose and Plays by Alexander Pushkin (no cover photo) by Alexander Pushkin

Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman
by Stefan Zweig

Alisa you did a great job on putting together the bibliography list! Thank you.

You are welcome Kathy. Glad you find it useful.

The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova

by Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova

All the threads have been fixed. A thousand pardons for the link problems, but we are all up to date now. Thank you for pointing it out and for your patience.

(moved from weekly discussion thread) Joanne wrote:

Jill wrote: "Good point, Alisa. History, especially prior to the 19th century, can often be revisionist at best and an author can only depend on what s/he can glean from his sources. Russia was such a big unkno..."

Many historians have found Catherine's memoirs less than hard, cold truth. Rewriting of the past, and especially trauma, is something all humans seem to do. The memoirs are in print. Publishers Weekly reviewed the 2006 edition, saying, "Catherine the Great's memoirs have long been seen as a self-serving attempt to justify her seizing the throne from her husband, Peter III. This fresh, clean translation (the first in English to be based on the original manuscripts), although it provides insight into the mind of the ruler and the Russian court, is unlikely to change that assessment. The memoirs cover the years before Catherine (1729–1796) became empress in 1762. As the memoir makes clear, Catherine, born a German princess, had a hard time adjusting to life in the Russian court, which she considered backward. Her marriage to Peter III was unhappy from the start, and she makes no bones about her unhappiness with him and his mistresses. At the same time, she rationalizes her own dalliances: 'I have just said I was attractive. As a result, I was already halfway along the road to temptation....'" Reading the memoirs separately from any biographer's interpretation might be fruitful.

by Catherine the Great

(moved from weekly discussion thread: Marilee wrote:

Joanne shared this insight from a Publisher's Weekly review about the 2006 translation of Catherine's writings ... ""Catherine the Great's memoirs have long been seen as a self-serving attempt to justify her seizing the throne from her husband, Peter III."

Yes, that seems to be what a number of newer books about the period are saying, as I mentioned in an earlier comment, ie., that Peter may not have been quite as dreadful as Catherine paints him.

I understand that Massie used other sources as well, as a good biographer should, but he seems to have primarily drawn his portrait of Peter in this period from Catherine's accounts. Perhaps I'm a natural sceptic, but it seems to me that Catherine's memoirs must be read with her purpose in mind, rather than as totally reliable and unbiased portraits of Peter and Elizabeth and events . I'm more comfortable with characterizations that have corroborating sources.

Thank you Alisa for maintaining the threads as well as you do.

Joanne and Marilee - please remember that the weekly non spoiler threads are just that and members must stick to discussing the pages and comments there and not have expansive discussions which go beyond that. We have spoiler threads like this one where expansive discussions can take place on sundry related topics - the spoiler threads are not narrow in scope like the non spoiler threads are.

Thanks Bentley.