Catherine the Great

John Alexander has provided the first popular biography of one of the most powerful infamous and colourful figures in modern history. Empress of the vast Russian Empire by the age of 33 Catherine''s private and public life generated tremendous controversy and she has been portrayed variously as a political genius a despotic foreign adventuress a tyrant and a nymphomaniac. John Alexander''s detailed research draws on little-known sources including Catherine''s love notes to produce a much-needed balanced appraisal of this remarkable woman throughout the whole of her long reign.