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| Plot Summary of Catherine The Great |
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"Catherine the II of Russia was born Sophie Aguasta Fredericka on April 21, 1729. German by birth.
"Catherine the Great" by Henry Troyat starts off with Catherine's birth and skims over her early childhood years by naming events such as Adolphus Frederick of Helstein-Gottop (the future King of Sweden) in 1739 and other important events. The book gets into "the meat of things" so to speak in chapters two or three, when Sophie/Catherine and her mother meet Empress Elizabeth to negotiate Catherine's marriage to Grand Duke Peter.
At first Catherine was sympathetic to Peter, not much of a man by anyone's standards, and very fond of Elizabeth. As time wears on Peter's mental unstableness (such as expression a great love of all things Prussian and German at a time when the Russian empire's feelings towards them were that of distain) and conceit grate on Catherine, and Elizabeth's cruel and excessive temperment also annoy Catherine.
Catherine's military triumphs are recognized, but one also gets to see her naiveness in love and vanity, she preferred younger men and even at the end of her life, in her late sixties, she had a twenty something year old lover (Plato Zubov).
While Catherine is undoubtedly the focus of the biography, Henry Troyat also mentions other nobility and keeps the reader informed of the relations between her and her son Grand Duke Paul and her impact on her grandchildren's lives."
Ashley Abbott, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Catherine The Great |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Royalty bio
Yes
Period of greatest activity?
- 1700's
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- Prince/Nobleman/King
Age:
- a kid
Biography of famous person?
Yes
Ethnicity
- White
Nationality
- Russian
How sensitive is this person?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other people
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Germany
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- Russia
Misc setting
- Fancy Mansion
Century:
- 18th century
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Book makes you feel?
- thoughtful
What kind of sex:
- impregnation/reproduction
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- war
- justice system
- religion
Writer's slant towards subject:
- neutral
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of nearly entire life
If this is a kid's book:
- Age 16-Adult
Pictures/Illustrations?
- A few 1-5 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- little dialog
Lot of titilating info about love life?
Yes
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?
- 51%-75% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 0-25% of book
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Click here for more information about this book
Henry Troyat Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Ashley Abbott
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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