Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, Massie Robert K.

Автор: Massie Robert K.
Название: Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman HB
ISBN: 0679456724 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780679456728
Издательство: Random House (USA)
Цена: 3219.00 р.
Наличие на складе: Нет в наличии.

Описание: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history.

Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into Empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity as a young woman, she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire. She knew or corresponded with the preeminent historical figures of her time: Voltaire, Diderot, Frederick the Great, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette, and, surprisingly, the American naval hero, John Paul Jones.

Reaching the throne fired by Enlightenment philosophy and determined to become the embodiment of the "benevolent despot" idealized by Montesquieu, she found herself always contending with the deeply ingrained realities of Russian life, including serfdom. She persevered, and for thirty-four years the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution that swept across Europe. Her reputation depended entirely on the perspective of the speaker. She was praised by Voltaire as the equal of the greatest of classical philosophers; she was condemned by her enemies, mostly foreign, as "the Messalina of the north."

Catherine's family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies--all are here, vividly described. These included her ambitious, perpetually scheming mother; her weak, bullying husband, Peter (who left her lying untouched beside him for nine years after their marriage); her unhappy son and heir, Paul; her beloved grandchildren; and her "favorites"--the parade of young men from whom she sought companionship and the recapture of youth as well as sex. Here, too, is the giant figure of Gregory Potemkin, her most significant lover and possible husband, with whom she shared a passionate correspondence of love and separation, followed by seventeen years of unparalleled mutual achievement.

The story is superbly told. All the special qualities that Robert K. Massie brought to Nicholas and Alexandra and Peter the Great are present here: historical accuracy, depth of understanding, felicity of style, mastery of detail, ability to shatter myth, and a rare genius for finding and expressing the human drama in extraordinary lives.

History offers few stories richer in drama than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, this eternally fascinating woman is returned to life.

Автор: Massie
Название: Peter the Great
ISBN: 0345298063 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780345298065
Издательство: Random House (USA)
Цена: 1618.00 р.
Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.

Описание: A biography of Peter the Great. Despite his progressive and enlightened attitudes towards science and the state, Peter was also a barbarous feudal tsar with a personal love of torture. His character - volatile, restless and cruel - embodied the greatest strengths and weaknesses of Russia.

Автор: Massie
Название: Romanovs
ISBN: 0345406400 ISBN-13(EAN): 9780345406408
Издательство: Random House (USA)
Цена: 1655.00 р.
Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.

Описание:

"Riveting . . . unfolds like a detective story."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

In July 1991, nine skeletons were exhumed from a shallow mass grave near Ekaterinburg, Siberia, a few miles from the infamous cellar room where the last tsar and his family had been murdered seventy-three years before. But were these the bones of the Romanovs? And if these were their remains, where were the bones of the two younger Romanovs supposedly murdered with the rest of the family? Was Anna Anderson, celebrated for more than sixty years in newspapers, books, and film, really Grand Duchess Anastasia? The Romanovs provides the answers, describing in suspenseful detail the dramatic efforts to discover the truth. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie presents a colorful panorama of contemporary characters, illuminating the major scientific dispute between Russian experts and a team of Americans, whose findings, along with those of DNA scientists from Russia, America, and Great Britain, all contributed to solving one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century.

Praise for The Romanovs: The Final Chapter

"Masterful."--The Washington Post Book World

"An admirable scientific thriller."--The New York Times Book Review

"Compelling . . . a fascinating account."--Chicago Tribune

"A masterpiece of investigative reporting."--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

Автор: Massie Robert
Название: Catherine the Great
ISBN: 1908800003 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781908800008
Издательство: Macmillan
Рейтинг:
Цена: 4158.00 р.
Наличие на складе: Поставка под заказ.

Описание: The extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became one of the most powerful women in history.

Автор: Massie Elizabeth
Название: Versailles
ISBN: 1782399984 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781782399988
Издательство: Неизвестно
Рейтинг:
Цена: 1266.00 р.
Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.

Описание: Introducing the novelization of a forthcoming 10-part lavish BBC2 drama series of the same name about a young Louis XIV and the creation of the Versailles palace; sweeping, sexy, utterly addictive.