A study of the reign of Catherine the Great focuses on her sex life and its impact on her public character, rise to power, and political achievements

Product Description: From the moment the fourteen-year-old Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst agreed to marry the heir to the Russian throne, she was mired in a quicksand of intrigue. Precociously intelligent, self-confident, and attractive but with a stubborn, wayward streak, Sophia withstood a degree of emotional battering that would have broken a weaker spirit until at last she emerged, triumphant over her many enemies, as Empress Catherine II of Russia...read more

Reveals the story of Tsar Nicholas' wife, a major force in the destruction of the Russian Empire, and her involvement with the infamous Rasputin

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A definitive translation of the memoirs by the powerful Russian queen describes Catherine's youth, her unhappy marriage and life prior to taking the Russian throne, her dealing with the intrigues and betrayals of Russian court life, and her ultimate rise to power. 12,500 first printing.

A portrait of the late eighteenth-century Russian ruler discusses how she seized and kept the throne in spite of her illegitimate claim and a series of wars, rebellions, and plagues, tracing how she rendered Russia a major European power.

A definitive translation of the memoirs by the powerful Russian queen describes Catherine's youth, her unhappy marriage and life prior to taking the Russian throne, her dealing with the intrigues and betrayals of Russian court life, and her ultimate rise to power. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

Examines Alexandra's childhood, her marriage to Nicholas, her increasing eccentricites and psychological anguish, and her focus and dependence on a series of occult mentors, including Rasputin.

Product Description: "[A] tale of power, perseverance and passion . . . a great story in the hands of a master storyteller."--"The Wall Street Journal" 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 German princess who became one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history...read more

The dramatic story of Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia―A penetrating and deeply personal study that gives profound psychological insight into their marriage and how it shaped the events that engulfed them.There are few characters in history about whom opinion has been more divided than the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and his wife the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. On one hand, they are venerated as saints, innocent victims of Bolshevik assassins, and on the other they are impugned as the unwitting harbingers of revolution and imperial collapse, blamed for all the ills that befell the Russian people in the 20th century. Theirs was also a tragic love story; for whatever else can be said of them, there can be no doubt that Alix and Nicky adored one another. Soon after their engagement, Alix wrote in her fiancé's diary: "Ever true and ever loving, faithful, pure and strong as death"―words which met their fulfillment twenty-four years later in a blood-spattered cellar in Ekaterinburg.Through the letters and diaries written by the couple and by those around them, Virginia Rounding presents an intimate, penetrating, and fresh portrayal of these two complex figures and of their passion―their love and their suffering. She explores the nature and possible causes of the Empress's ill health, and examines in depth the enigmatic triangular relationship between Nicky, Alix and their ‘favourite,' Ania Vyrubova, protégée of the infamous Rasputin, extracting the meaning from words left unsaid, from hints and innuendoes..The story of Alix and Nicky, of their four daughters known collectively as ‘OTMA' and of their hemophiliac little boy Alexei, is endlessly fascinating, and Rounding makes these characters come alive, presenting them in all their human dimensions and expertly leading the reader into their vanished world.