The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library Classics) [Paperback]

Catherine the Great (Author), Markus Cruse (Translator), Hilde Hoogenboom (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2006 | Series: Modern Library Classics

Empress Catherine II brought Europe to Russia, and Russia to Europe, during her long and eventful reign (1762—96). She fostered the culture of the Enlightenment and greatly expanded the immense empire created by Czar Ivan the Terrible, shifting the balance of power in Europe eastward. Famous for her will to power and for her dozen lovers, Catherine was also a prolific and gifted writer.

Fluent in French, Russian, and German, Catherine published political theory, journalism, comedies, operas, and history, while writing thousands of letters as she corresponded with Voltaire and other public figures. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provides an unparalleled window into eighteenth-century Russia and the mind of an absolute ruler.

With insight, humor, and candor, Catherine presents her eyewitness account of history, from her whirlwind entry into the Russian court in 1744 at age fourteen as the intended bride of Empress Elizabeth I’s nephew, the eccentric drunkard and future Peter III, to her unhappy marriage; from her two children, several miscarriages, and her and Peter’s numerous affairs to the political maneuvering that enabled Catherine to seize the throne from him in 1762. Catherine’s eye for telling details makes for compelling reading as she describes the dramatic fall and rise of her political fortunes.

This definitive new translation from the French is scrupulously faithful to her words and is the first for which translators have consulted original manuscripts written in Catherine’s own hand. It is an indispensable work for anyone interested in Catherine the Great, Russian history, or the eighteenth century.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Catherine the Great's memoirs have long been seen as a self-serving attempt to justify her seizing the throne from her husband, Peter III. This fresh, clean translation (the first in English to be based on the original manuscripts), although it provides insight into the mind of the ruler and the Russian court, is unlikely to change that assessment. The memoirs cover the years before Catherine (1729–1796) became empress in 1762. As the memoir makes clear, Catherine, born a German princess, had a hard time adjusting to life in the Russian court, which she considered backward. Her marriage to Peter III was unhappy from the start, and she makes no bones about her unhappiness with him and his mistresses. At the same time, she rationalizes her own dalliances: "I have just said I was attractive. As a result, I was already halfway along the road to temptation...." The translators provide a substantial introduction, but readers without prior knowledge of Catherine the Great might want to have Isabel de Madariaga's biography of the czar on hand for reference. Color illus., 2 maps, not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Catherine II of Russia, who reigned from 1762 to 1796, cultivated an image as an enlightened monarch, an image to which three different memoirs contributed. This new translation from the original French spans a portion of the memoirs from 1744, when she, a German princess, arrived in Russia to marry Grand Duke Paul, heir to the throne, through 1759. But as the translators note, Catherine wrote of this period near the end of her life, which lends her recollections an air of considerable self--justification: after all, her claim to rule was dubious, having come to power in a palace coup in which her husband was assassinated. Although historians will read this work wary of Catherine's biases, general readers can still enjoy the vividness of Russian court life that she supplies. Its appearance, its rituals, its gossip, its hazardous intrigues--Catherine's remembrance of details will interest those who've digested the best current popular biography, Isabel de Madariaga's Catherine the Great (1990). Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Modern Library (June 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812969871
• ISBN-13: 978-0812969870
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #556,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Letting Catherine Have Her Say, August 22, 2005

By 

Notnadia (Currently upstairs.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

Catherine the Great has long suffered from mixed press. Jeesh, I mean there was the fact she almost certainly had her demented husband, who just happened to be the Czar, conveniently snuffed, she enacted brutal laws in retaliation for a wee bit of disloyalty on behalf of the Russian peasantry, and, well, let's not forget that nasty rumor about how fond she was of horses. Ahem. But you know, this was also one of the greatest rulers in Russian history, a pen-pal of Voltaire, hand-picked agent of Frederick the Great, and above all else, an improbable survivor against whom the deck was stacked pretty high.

I think Catherine used these memoirs to sway the public's feelings about her. That's a nice way of saying I suspect the ol' gal fibbed a time or two. But so what? This is still an invaluable first-hand account of a time and place about which we might otherwise have known far less than we do, but for courtesy of her gifted prose. Sure, Catherine wasn't perfect but she wasn't a monster, either, as so many other Russian rulers have been. She had a good sense of humor, she liked to read and she made an art of political pragmatism. Catherine also tried to do what was right (especially what was right for her) and early in her reign, this German on the Russian throne brought about a number of amazingly liberal reforms that ended laws that were suffocating Mother Russia, even during the Age of Enlightenment.

I say, let historians debate all they want, Catherine deserved to have her say and her point of view is privileged. If for nothing else than the details of her era, this memoir is worth its weight in sable and caviar.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Face it, this is a classic, so let's at least applaud, January 19, 2008

By 

G. Stelzenmuller - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

This rather large collection can be very absorbing in spite of its "pedestrian" style. Even a bad translation (which it likely was not) couldn't be an excuse to call it good writing, but memoirs are not really known for being Pulitzer material. "Alibiographies," these are sometimes called, and the stories in "Memoirs" are very often told by Catherine to make herself a favorable picture. As historian Will Durant says about the work, it is not so much false, as it is partial. Truthfully, though, it would be hard to name any other autobiography that did not do the same. The most glaring difference between "her version" and the "world's version," for example, has to be her thoughts and descriptions of her husband, Czar Peter III. The reader will find this easy -- and interesting -- to spot all through the memoirs!

Durant also implies, though, that Catherine's memoirs fills many gaps, at least as material for further reading. No matter the partiality shown in the book, it is blindingly clear that Catherine was head and shoulders above almost all her contemporaries in intelligence, energy, curiosity, and shrewdness.

A word of personal annoyance with this book. It took more than three-quarters of the pages to run across the telling of her first non-husband love relationship. Even then the fateful paragraph was extra-long and in an unexpectedly different style, and had to be read twice to catch on. All that work for so little naughty information!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memoirs of Catherine tge Great, October 17, 2008

By 

Michael P. Martin (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library Classics) (Paperback)

This book is fantastic. One third of the book informs you of all the data you need to clarify and comprehend what the memoirs are stating. The memoirs comprise the last two thirds of the book.

Catherine did a lot for the enlightenment in RUSSIA and was a true Russian in heart if not by blood and birth.

The book is easy to read and never boring especially if you are interested in history told by the people that made.