Catherine the Great & Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Notes

Preface

prologue: Death on the Steppes

part one: potemkin and catherine 1739–1762

1 The Provincial Boy

2 The Guardsman and the Grand Duchess: Catherine’s Coup

3 First Meeting: The Empress’s Reckless Suitor

part two: closer 1762–1774

4 Cyclops

5 The War Hero

6 The Happiest Man Alive

part three: together 1774–1776

7 Love

8 Power

9 Marriage: Madame Potemkin

10 Heartbreak and Understanding

part four: the passionate partnership 1776–1777

11 Her Favourites

12 His Nieces

13 Duchesses, Diplomats and Charlatans

part five: the colossus 1777–1783

14 Byzantium

15 The Holy Roman Emperor

16 Three Marriages and a Crown

17 Potemkin’s Paradise: The Crimea

part six: the co-tsar 1784–1786

18 Emperor of the South

19 British Blackamoors and Chechen Warriors

20 Anglomania: The Benthams in Russia and the Emperor of Gardens

21 The White Negro

22 A Day in the Life of Grigory Alexandrovich

part seven: the apogee 1787–1790

23 The Magical Theatre

24 Cleopatra

25 The Amazons

26 Jewish Cossacks and American Admirals: Potemkin’s War

27 Cry Havoc: The Storming of Ochakov

28 My Successes Are Yours

29 The Delicious and the Cruel: Sardanapalus

30 Sea of Slaughter: Ismail

part eight: the last dance 1791

31 The Beautiful Greek

32 Carnival and Crisis

33 The Last Ride

epilogue: Life After Death

Illustrations

List of Characters

Maps

Family Trees

Notes

Select Bibliography