Catherine the Great

Copyright © 2011 by Robert K. Massie

Maps copyright © 2011 by David Lindroth, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Massie, Robert K.

Catherine the Great : portrait of a woman / by Robert K. Massie.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-1-58836-044-1

1. Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729–1796. 2. Empresses—Russia—Biography.

3. Russia—Kings and rulers—Biography. 4. Russia—History—Catherine II,

1762–1796. I. Title.

DK170.M34 2011 2011015279

947′.063092—dc22 [B]

www.atrandom.com

Jacket design: The Book Designers

Jacket painting: Alexei Petrovich Antropov, portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna (the future Catherine the Great) (detail) (Bridgeman Art Library International)

v3.1