Oxford Lives Catherine the Great

Drawing on little-known sources, including newly-translated editions of Catherine's love notes, John Alexander has produced a balanced appraisal and biography of one of the most powerful, infamous and colourful figures in modern history. Empress of the vast Russian Empire by the age of 33, Catherine's private and public life generated tremendous contemporary controversy, and she has subsequently been portrayed variously as a political genius, a despotic foreign adventuress, a tyrant, and a nymphomaniac. Drawing on little-known sources, including Catherine's billets doux , John Alexander has produced a much-needed balanced appraisal and popular biography of one of the most powerful, infamous, and colourful figures in modern history.