Table of Contents

Preface Illustrations I Catherine Seizes Power in the Russian Empire 2 Russian Society in 1762 3 Catherine's First Years 4 The First Turkish War 5 The Crisis of the 1770s The Reform of Local Administration and of the Legal System the Armed neutrality and the Annexation of the Crimea 8 Catherine's Influence on Russian Cultural Life 9 Catherine's Educational Policy 10 Catherine's Social Policy 1 How Catherine Governed 12 How the People Lived 13 War with Turkey and Sweden, and the Destruction of Poland 14 Catherine's Economic Policy 15 Catherine and the French Revolution 16 Catherine as Woman and Ruler Bibliographical Note Maps Appendix I: Genealogical table Appendix II: Measurements Appendix III: Administrative Charts.

Reviews

De Madariaga (Univ. of London) has published extensively in the scholarly literature on Catherine II and her reign (1762-96). In this book she summarizes her scholarship for general readers, focusing not on biography, but on Catherine as working Empress, deeply involved in the work of her Legislative Commission (1767), in reform of local administration, in foreign policy, and in the intellectual traditions of the Enlightenment. Writing with great admiration for Catherine's accomplishments and minimizing, perhaps, the harsh conditions outside of court circles, the author carefully points out areas where other historians disagree with her and gaps in existing scholarship (especially Soviet scholarship). Libraries that want a recent scholarly treatment will prefer John T. Alexander's Catherine the Great (Oxford, 1989), but this is a fine summary of the period for others.-- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York