Catherine is a particular favorite of mine. I have great respect and admiration for her. She dragged Russia forward and forced elightenment, education, relgious reform, modern medicine and sanitation upon her subjects. Certainly it is true that she was not democratic. But that is to judge her by a standard that would have been unrecognized by anyone in her part of the world at that time. Though she was not without faults, the good she did far outweighed those shortcomings. Moreover, if Catherine had not been on the throne, what are we to suppose would have been the fate of Russia under the rule of whoever else happened to seize power? It is not as if she were the only thing standing between Russia and freedom. Quite the contrary, she was standing between Russia and even worse oppression.

While I am enjoying reading this book, I confess that I am also irritated by it. It is far too popular and unscholarly. There are no references and very few notes. What few notes there are, are not tied to the text so the reader is left to figure out as best he can what goes where. Far better biographies of Catherine exist. ( )

Admittedly this book took me a long time to finish (this is in large part due to the fact that I'm not the speediest reader and I tend to have more than one book going at a time), but as far as nonfiction goes, this is officially a favorite. In fact, it is one of the better books I've ever read; fiction, nonfiction, or otherwise. In "Love, Sex, Power", Rounding brings to life a fantastic minx of woman that put Russia on the map as a legitimate world player. The reader is thoroughly entertained and educated. So often with biographies, the storytelling becomes dry and muddled with incoherent facts. However, with this book, Rounding cleverly weaves history, people and legend into one enthralling story. From the infamous “horse rumors” to “Potemkin Villages”, the life of Catherine is depicted whole-heartedly. In many ways, this biography read like a novel, and a thrilling one at that.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Suggested With: Many many midday hours during which one can get wrapped up with a bowl of soup or cup of tea. ( )

So, let’s say you’re a man who is consistently suffocating under the thumb of your mother. You’re forced to live in her house, ask her permission to do anything, and at times you even have to wait on her. No one sympathizes with you because they only care about dear ol’ Mom.

You’ve long suspected that she offed Dad and she’s recently taken to sleeping with men much, much younger than you. She commandeers your children for herself and your wife must also be at her beck and call.

Then — finally — she dies. Now, everyone waits on you. You suddenly have limitless power. What do you do?

You say your mother died while doing the nasty with a horse, of course.

For rest of review: http://deathbynovel.blogspot.com/2008... ( )

The book is interesting - Catherine the Great was a very intriguing woman - but occasionally lapses into slow cataloging of facts. I'd only recommend it if you really want to know a lot about her, or the start of the Hermitage Museum. ( )