Robert K. Massie is arguably the best modern biographer of the Russian tsars. His works are richly detailed and meticulously researched, but readable. I loved his account of the last Russian Imperial family, Nicholas and Alexandra, and so I was very excited to read his newest biography, Catherine the Great.
Catherine the Great begins with an account of Catherine’s childhood as Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst. Sophia was born to a minor German prince and his rigid, unhappy, ambitious wife. Sophia’s mother, Princess Johanna, resented Sophia for being a girl… at least, until the Empress Elizabeth of Russia chose Sophia as the bride to her nephew and heir, the Grand Duke Peter. Johanna and Sophia immediately journeyed to Russia together, where Sophia set about winning the affection and confidence of Empress Elizabeth (overcoming the roadblocks that Johanna set up by viewing herself as a secret agent of Prussia’s Frederick II and constantly bungling her “spying” endeavors). Sophia converted to Russian Orthodoxy, became Catherine, and was betrothed and then married to Peter. Unfortunately, it took her nine years to accomplish the one task Elizabeth had in mind for her – producing an heir to the Russian throne – because her husband slept next to her for nearly a decade while rebuffing every attempt she made to, um, carry out Elizabeth’s orders. Catherine finally was persuaded to take a lover and it’s unclear whether her heir, Paul, was the result of her marriage or her extracurricular activities.
Eventually, Elizabeth died and passed Russia to Peter, who was an immensely unpopular emperor. Peter hated Russia and idealized Prussia; he called Frederick II “the king my master” and instituted an ill-fated alliance with Russia’s historic antagonist, as well as number of unpopular and idiotic policies. The pressure mounted and eventually, supported by the Russian military and church, Catherine mounted a sudden coup and took over the throne from her hapless husband. She proceeded to rule for over 30 years. Catherine’s reign was not always smooth – there were wars and attempted peasant revolts – but there were few monarchs in Russian history who proved as dedicated or inspired as she. Catherine first attempted to create a new code of laws based on Enlightenment principles. She went on to become a philosopher-empress who read widely, always entertained opposing viewpoints, assembled Europe’s foremost art collection of the day and built schools, hospitals, towns and cities, and persuaded thousands of Russians to be inoculated against smallpox. She added vast swaths of territory to the Russian empire through wars and annexations (the wars were fair; the annexations were not). Her personal life was often criticized: she took a parade of ever-younger lovers. But her legacy remains as one of the greatest rulers Russia has ever had and, likely, ever will have.
Catherine would be a challenging figure for a biographer. Her life was dramatic and full, her accomplishments vast. But in the hands of Robert K. Massie, she comes to life. This is a LONG, dense book, but worth reading for anyone who has an interest in Russian history.
Get the book! Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, by Robert K. Massie (not an affiliate link)
For hundreds of years the town of Marstal in Denmark stood between land and sea. The boys of Marstal gather to terrorize their teacher and sing their hymns beneath model schooners, knowing that one day they will be sailing on life-size ships like their fathers. The men of Marstal look to the sea – it is more than the way they make their living, it’s their destiny. The women of Marstal say goodbye to husbands, sons, brothers, knowing that many will never return – they will be swallowed by the sea. We, the Drowned tells their stories, spanning over the course of 100 years. The story begins with a sea battle in 1848, as Danish sailors take on German rebels. The Danes suffer horribly, but Laurids Madsen manages to survive the battle thanks to his boots. Not long after, however, he disappears and his son Albert searches the Pacific for years, looking for the facts behind his father’s disappearance. Years later, Albert retires to Marstal and takes a young widow, Klara, and her son Knud Erik under his wing. Klara is determined that Knud Erik should not be a sailor. When Knud Erik defies her wishes, Klara declares war on the town of Marstal and the entire sea.
Well, kids, this is it. The moment of truth. Did I, or did I not, manage to read 1,927 pages in three weeks? And more importantly, did I learn one single blessed thing from the experience? Read on.
Elise Landau is part of the glittering set of Vienna in 1938. (A peripheral part, to be sure – she’s really just a kid. But a part, nonetheless.) Daughter of a famous opera singer and an avant-garde novelist, sister of an up-and-coming (and beautiful) violist, Elise is accustomed to a world of parties, champagne, silk dresses, pastries in the famous hotels and cafes of Vienna. She is steeped in culture and luxury, living a life of ease as the petted baby of a well-off family. Until she’s not. Because, you see, it’s 1938 and Vienna and Elise is Jewish. Her parents, Anna and Julian, are bound for New York; her sister Margaret and brother-in-law Robert are headed for San Francisco. But Elise is not famous – she’s not part of the intelligentsia or glitterati, and so nobody wants her. Yet she must escape Vienna and she does – on a “domestic service visa” – a means for privileged young Jewish girls from the Continent to flee to England by taking up positions as housemaids in the great country houses. Elise finds herself a place at Tyneford House, with the Rivers family – one of the oldest, most respected non-titled English families. Life as a housemaid is hard, especially for one used to getting her way in everything. Elise has to learn to work hard, keep long hours, and ignore the disrespect she is expected to absorb as a maid. She has to keep silent through petty indignities from the other staff, and real cruelty from a nasty houseguest. But while Elise’s life in England is hard, Tyneford comes to feel like home. Elise makes friends – a local girl named Poppy, and Kit Rivers, the son of the master of the house. Elise’s friendship with Kit will transform them both – but when the war escalates, everyone at Tyneford is going to have to accept the big changes that are coming.
covered in flour 