From the untimely demise of the 52-year-old Peter the Great in 1725
to nearly the end of that century, the fate of the Russian empire
would rest largely in the hands of five tsarinas. This book tells
their stories. Peter's widow Catherine I (1725-27), an orphan and
former laundress, would gain control of the ancestral throne, a
victorious army, and formidable navy in a country that stretched
from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Next, Anna Ioannovna
(1730-40), chosen by conniving ministers who sought an ineffectual
puppet, would instead tear up the document that would have changed
the course of Russian history forever only to rule Russia as her
private fiefdom and hunting estate. The ill-fated Anna Leopoldovna
(1740-41), groomed for the throne by her namesake aunt, would be
Regent for her young son only briefly before a coup by her aunt
Elizabeth would condemn Anna's family to a life of imprisonment,
desolation, and death in obscurity. The beautiful and shrewd
Elizabeth (1741-61) would seize her father Peter's throne, but,
obsessed with her own fading beauty, she would squander resources
in a relentless effort to stay young and keep her rivals at bay.
Finally, Catherine the Great (1762-96) would overthrow (and later
order the murder of) her own husband and rightful heir. Astute and
intelligent, Catherine had a talent for making people like her,
winning them to her cause; however, the era of her rule would be a
time of tumultuous change for both Europe and her beloved Russia.
In this vivid, quick-paced account, Anisimov goes beyond simply
laying out the facts of each empress's reign, to draw realistic
psychological portraits and to consider the larger fate of women in
politics.Together, these five portraits represent a history of
18th-century court life and international affairs. Anisimov's tone
is commanding, authoritative, but also convivial--inviting the
reader to share the captivating secrets that his efforts have
uncovered.
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