4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Soap Opera at Tsarskoye Selo, April 11, 2010
This could have been a better book than it is. While it is interesting to read anything that a Russian has written on his country's history (since it marks the reclamation of the past following 1991), this book drags on for far too long and would have been better if the author had demonstrated an understanding of the power politics of Russia as a whole and not just the court.
This is the story of Russia's rulers in the 18th century, after Peter the Great and before Napoleon. It might have been called "ladies choice," since most of the rulers were women. This was quite a leap since before Peter's era women were squirreled away, aristocratic ones anyway, in the terem, something resembling the Turkish harem. After Peter died, they made up for lost time.
The five rulers presented in this book are: Catherine I (Peter's wife who began her working career as Lithuanian laundress), Empress Anna (Peter's niece by his half brother), Anna Leopldovna, (Peter's great niece by his, yet another Catherine), Elizabeth (Peter's daughter who was born a bit before her parents were married) and Catherine the Great (Peter's granddaughter in law). Each of them had a personal story and this is what the author focuses on. After a while, unfortunately this becomes tedious since very rarely are the lives sufficiently interesting to merit the narrative assigned to them. The style and pattern is to simply their respective characters so that they can be described in a few words. With the exception of Catherine the Great (the hardworking and personable one), we get too much of the personal and very little of the professional life. In some cases these women accomplished little more than taking the throne (or in the case of Anna Leopldovna, losing it).
It is not clear whether or not Catherine I was ever literate in any sense of the word, but as the earthy one in the book this did not stop her from having a splendid time first as Peter the Great's wife and then as his widow. Largely a tool so that Menshikov could maintain his status after Peter's death, she literally died of excessive hedonism. With her death Menshikov was exiled.
Although there was a male heir to follow Catherine I, Peter II (Peter's grandson by his son Alexis), the real running of the kingdom was left up to the Dolgorukiys who were experiencing one of that family's periodic moments of prominence. They proved instrumental in bringing Peter's niece Anna to the throne when Peter II died as a teenager.
Probably the most impressive relic of Empress Anna is a statue of her in the Russian museum in Saint Petersburg. The impression given is of a massive figure of a woman. Was there a movie made of her life the late Margaret Rutherford would have been the ideal person to play her. Largely the product of Russian and German favorites, Anna managed to have a better life as empress than she dreamed possible as the member of the poor branch of the Romanovs. Her accomplishments were largely insignificant, she was the fortunate one.
Anna's favorite Ernest Biron, the duke of Courland was supposed to be regent for Anna's infant great nephew Ivan, but as a German he was easily deposed by the baby's mother Anna Leopldovna. Anna Leopldovna found power harder to retain than to seize and was deposed in a matter of months. Both her and her were imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Ivan was executed by the supreme realist in politics, Catherine the Great.
Where the author seems to have the greatest difficulties is with the next female ruler of Russia and this was Elizabeth. Although earthy and pleasure seeking like her mother (she would not attend events like family funerals if they got in the way of the hunting season), she was clever and autocratic like her father. Strictly speaking, she was illegitimate and though legalized by royal decree, she probably would not have been allowed to become empress had there been more heirs for the house of Romanov. Always popular with the three guards regiments (Preobrazhensky, Izmailovsky, and Semenovskiy), Elizabeth managed to snatch power away from her cousin's family and rule for the next 20 years.
Elizabeth gets short shift by Anisimov who ignores her role as a patron of the arts and sciences. Where her father had focused on recruiting talented individuals to improve Russia's proficiency in a number of areas, Elizabeth focused on creating institutions to further this goal. Anisimov also tends to give a great deal of credit to Elizabeth's ministers when it came to the achievements of Elizabeth's reign as though she had nothing to do with their appointment. It was Elizabeth who hired Rastrelli who produced most of the Baroque masterpieces extant in Russia. While sex does enter into a number of appointments as well as family politics (the Razumovskiis and Vorontsovs), no one would have stayed around after the love had flown had he been less than competent. These were lessons that her successor would learn.
By the time the book reaches Catherine the Great, the pattern is well established. She is the hard working empress who has a number of highly competent nobles in her employ. Anisimov demolishes her status as an enlightened despot (as though democracy would ever come to Russia then or now), her successful military campaigns are recounted, but very little remains of what made Catherine the Great such an engaging personality. She had to have it because if Elizabeth's rise to power was surprising, it was nothing short of incredible that the wife of an eccentric emperor could depose her husband and rule in her own right for many years, displacing her own son who might not have even been the product of one of the infrequent liaisons between Peter III and Catherine (not that this troubled Elizabeth one bit).
Where Anisimov misses the boat completely is his inability to connect the dots and provide context. The nobility spent this period under the five empresses regaining much of the power and privilages they had lost under Peter the Great. This was the price that was paid in order to keep the ladies in power. By the time Catherine died the great magnates of Russian history had recovered and recouped something resembling real political power. It would fall to Nicholas I to clip the wings of the aristocracy, or at least the members of that group who fell out line. It is precisely this omission that makes this book less that useful in terms of providing an overview of the five empresses. Had there been less of the personal and more of the public, it would have been better.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but not cohesive, June 23, 2006
This review is from: Five Empresses: Court Life in Eighteenth-Century Russia (Hardcover)
I enjoyed this book for the most part. It delves into the lives of these 5 empresses and how they came to power. I didn't expect the book to get into too much detail about each empress since that would involve volumes. However, since the author pretty much followed the chronological path, I did expect it to remain that way until the end. What I found was that characters and events sometimes showed up more than once in the same context and other times, characters and events were mentioned way out of chronological order. I found myself having to flip back/forth many times to keep everything straight. If you want an overview of these 5 women and their contribution to Russian history, this is a good read. If you are looking for something more "meaty" - then this isn't the book for you.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, amusing and painless history lessons, August 24, 2005
This review is from: Five Empresses: Court Life in Eighteenth-Century Russia (Hardcover)
My knowledge of Russian history is zip - a collection of names (eg, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, the doomed Nicholas and Alexandra). Mr Anisimov has given me a thoroughly delightful history lesson of five empresses of 18th century Russia. His clever comments and personal way of writing made me look forward to each page turning.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
