Copyright © 2011 by Robert K. Massie
Maps copyright © 2011 by David Lindroth, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Massie, Robert K.
Catherine the Great : portrait of a woman / by Robert K. Massie.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-044-1
1. Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729–1796. 2. Empresses—Russia—Biography.
3. Russia—Kings and rulers— Biography. 4. Russia—History—Catherine II,
1762–1796. I. Title.
DK170.M34 2011 2011015279
947?.063092—dc22 [B]
www.atrandom.com
Jacket design: The Book Designers
Jacket painting: Alexei Petrovich Antropov, portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna (the future Catherine the Great) (detail) (Bridgeman Art Library International)
v3.1
—The Earl of Buckinghamshire,
British ambassador to Russia, 1762–65
CONTENTS
PART I
1 Sophia’s Childhood
2 Summoned to Russia
3 Frederick II and the Journey to Russia
4 Empress Elizabeth
5 The Making of a Grand Duke
6 Meeting Elizabeth and Peter
7 Pneumonia
8 Intercepted Letters
9 Conversion and Betrothal
10 A Pilgrimage to Kiev and Transvestite Balls
11 Smallpox
12 Marriage
13 Johanna Goes Home
PART II
14 The Zhukova Affair
15 Peepholes
16 A Watchdog
17 “He Was Not a King”
18 In the Bedroom
19 A House Collapses
20 Summer Pleasures