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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Revises the standard view on Potemkin, November 28, 2001
This review is from: The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin (Hardcover)
If all you knew about Potemkin was the fact that he built fake villages for Catherine the Great, then this book will tell you a lot more. In fact, the author goes into the origin of that particular myth, and shows it to be false, and propagated by enemies of Potemkin, and repeated, uncritically, by subsequent historians. There is no question that Sebag-Montefiore is biassed in favor of his hero - this is not an objective biography, and doesn't try to be, or claim to be so. Some people might think that the author of a historical biography should be an invisible, impartial figure, but you don't get that with this book. You hear a lot about the author's travels to research his subject, which contrasts with the dry style of more "serious" historians, who never leave the library. Any author of a biography is likely to be biassed, so why not be upfront about it? This is a very readable book - there are lots of anecdotes, and a lot of quotes directly from the correspondance between Potemkin and Catherine. The book makes a direct claim that the two were married, in a secret ceremony, and even describes the ceremony, even though the author cheerfully admits the lack of evidence for this. The really good thing about this book is that most of it draws on primary sources, many of which have not been available before, and the author brings these, and their authors to life. This means that it is a ground-breaking historical account, and popular history at the same time. Like all good biographies, it teaches you a lot about the historical context, so you will learn a lot about how Catherine was able to defeat the Turks, and significantly expand the size of the Russian empire. Seeing Catherine through the eyes of her lover's biographer is a new slant on a subject who has had a lot written about her. I really enjoyed this book. It's popular history that is both historical (in terms of its academic integrity, and its research) and popular (in terms of its interesting subject, and lively writing style).
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun to read, October 19, 2001
This review is from: The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin (Hardcover)
Potemkin was a Russian statesman who exercised power in the reign of Catherine the Great. He had a position of importance for about 17 years in the last part of the 17th Century. He was associated with the "Southern Strategy". In the early years of the 17th Century Peter the Great had modernized the Russian army, organized society in such a way that it could support a standing army and run a centralized state in a modern way. Peter had defeated the Swedes and thrown them out of Russia. His campaigns in the south were not successful and he was forced to sign a humiliating peace with Persia. Potemkin expanded Russia to the South. Detaching the Crimea from the Turkish Empire and making it an independent state was the first step. Later it was annexed as was some of the territories in the Caucasus and Besserabia. Not only did Potemkin add these territories to Russia but he made them what they are today. These areas had been largely pastoral areas dominated by the Turks and sparsely populated. Potemkin filled these areas with peasant farmers and they became some of the richest agricultural areas in Russia. He also designed and built cities such as Odessa and Sebastapool. One thing which was important to Russia's history over the next hundred years was that he developed good relationships with the Cossacks and in fact created the Kuban Cossacks. As a result the Cossacks became one of the pillars of Czarism. In the 19th Century Russia was one of the largest and most successful empires. Potemkin is one of its architects and laid the basis for its relentless eastward expansion. He is remarkable in many ways. A good deal of what he achieved was through diplomacy. His skills and interests were greater than that of a normal military leader and involved setting up the infrastructure of a nation state. This book is something that could not fail to be interesting because of its subject matter. The writer however tends to focus on the dramatic and scandalous parts of Potemkin's life to make a dramatic story somewhat at the expense of the historical narrative. Catherine the Great was married to a Czar who was probably insane. It seems that her son was the product of an affair. Shortly after her husband came to the thrown she became fearful that she would be divorced. She conspired with two brothers called the Orlovs to overthrow her husband and later murder him and to make her the Czar. In her forties Catherine had an affair with Potemkin who was a very minor noble in a guards restaurant. He had shown bravery in battle and continually flirted with Catherine and threw himself at her feet. She succumbed and they were lovers for a while and probably were married secretly. His power and office derive from her trust in him. After their affair ended he continued to exercise power in the South of Russia. The book tends to push the romance between Potemkin and Catherine to the fore and to discuss the history as something of an afterthought. It seems designed at selling to a larger market than normal academic histories. Despite all this it is an interesting work both from the point of view of discussing Catherine and also documenting the rise of the Russian empire.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adds to my understanding of an era, March 4, 2005
This review is from: The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin (Hardcover)
Potemkin : Prince of Princes by Simon Sebag Montefiore This book about Potemkin is as broad, expansive, and fascinating as the man himself. It's beautifully researched, based strongly on the correspondence of Potemkin and Catherine the Great, as well as the archives of Potemkin. Gregor Potemkin was a minor noble who was on the periphery of the conspiracy that brought Catherine the Great to power in Russia in 1762. Younger than Catherine, Potemkin remained among the people who served her, and was seen as a humorous and turbulent young man with a gift for amusing the Empress. In 1774, they became lovers, and lovers on an epic scale. The letters between them are humorous, loving, passionate, and filled with the details of running an Empire. Potemkin, brilliant, well-read and gifted was a companion for Catherine in a way that none of her other favorites were. He and Catherine were tender towards one another til his death in the early 1790's, even as they both eventually turned to other lovers. Rumors spread that they were married, and Montefiore explores whether this might be true. His conclusion - it's impossible to prove, but their language of love uses the phrases husband and wife in far more than casual way. And the way that they worked together to run an Empire, wage wars in Crimea, and make Russia a stronger Imperial power was one of partnership, not of master and servant. Potemkin is a fascinating figure - by turns filled with manic energy and diffident - a sensualist who wanted to reside in a monastery, a mass of contradictions. But the book makes a sense of the man - passionate and intellectual, filled with curiosity for innovation, with a gift for friendship. He led the effort to conquer the Crimea, giving Russia an outlet on the Black Sea, which led to important shifts in power in the coming century. Sometimes hiding behind a mask of indolence, he set out to build towns, improve agricultural, innovate in river transport, and set a new diplomatic agenda with the Ottaman Empire, Austria, France and Prussia. Montefiore discusses some of the myths of Potemkin, especially the infamous Potemkin villages, and tries to show how the foreign ambassadors around Potemkin had reasons to diminish the progress Potemkin had made in changing the newly acquired lands in the Crimea. Occasionally the author is perhaps too willing to dismiss Potemkin's more outrageous behavior, but is frank and honest about his failings as well as his triumphs. The book is beautifully written, with an energetic and clear prose style. Often you get only books about the dominant figure of a place and era, such as Catherine the Great in Russia during this time. This book add substantial details to the picture of the Russian Court, Russian politics, and of Catherine herself. A highly recommended book for anyone interested in the period. If you need an entree into the period, let me recommend Henri Troyat's Catherine the Great. A joy! What a pleasure to read a good book.
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