Synopses & Reviews
Empress Catherine II brought Europe to Russia, and Russia to Europe, during her long and eventful reign (176296). She fostered the culture of the Enlightenment and greatly expanded the immense empire created by Czar Ivan the Terrible, shifting the balance of power in Europe eastward. Famous for her will to power and for her dozen lovers, Catherine was also a prolific and gifted writer.
Fluent in French, Russian, and German, Catherine published political theory, journalism, comedies, operas, and history, while writing thousands of letters as she corresponded with Voltaire and other public figures. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provides an unparalleled window into eighteenth-century Russia and the mind of an absolute ruler.
With insight, humor, and candor, Catherine presents her eyewitness account of history, from her whirlwind entry into the Russian court in 1744 at age fourteen as the intended bride of Empress Elizabeth I's nephew, the eccentric drunkard and future Peter III, to her unhappy marriage; from her two children, several miscarriages, and her and Peter's numerous affairs to the political maneuvering that enabled Catherine to seize the throne from him in 1762. Catherine's eye for telling details makes for compelling reading as she describes the dramatic fall and rise of her political fortunes.
This definitive new translation from the French is scrupulously faithful to her words and is the first for which translators have consulted original manuscripts written in Catherine's own hand. It is an indispensable work for anyone interested in Catherine the Great, Russian history, or the eighteenth century.
Review
"Although historians will read this work wary of Catherine's biases, general readers can still enjoy the vividness of Russian court life that she supplies." Booklist
Review
"Several translations of the memoirs of Catherine the Great have been published before, but none of them can compare with this latest edition. Mark Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom have produced a masterpiece. Their translation fairly sings, capturing with stunning virtuosity all the beguiling wit and charm that make these memoirs one of the most fascinating works ever penned by a European monarch." Douglas Smith, editor and translator of Love and Conquest: Personal Correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin
Review
"Catherine the Great's memoirs are a classic and almost unique record of personality and power, the work of one of history's greatest and most alluring leaders but also of a young girl trapped in a sinister court and a miserable marriage this new edition is the best for decades and the one for both general and scholarly readers to use." Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner and Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar
About the Author
About the Translators
Mark Cruse has a Ph.D. in French literature from New York University and teaches at Arizona State University.
Hilde Hoogenboom received her Ph.D. in Russian literature from Columbia University and teaches Russian and translation at the State University of New York at Albany.
From the Hardcover edition.