I picked up this biography of Catherine the Great[1] the summer after I had done a middle school book report on Catherine. I never got around to reading it until now.

I'm kind of glad I waited because it wasn't that good of a book. The author clearly only wanted to write about the time before the Empress came to power. The first 275 pages of this 356 page book minutely cover Catherine's childhood, her time as Grand Duchess, and her rise to the throne. The last 80 pages cover everything else, and 20 pages of that is sent on a well-yes-but-aren't-you-belaboring-the-point-a-bit rant about the truly abominable treatment of serfs in Russia of this time period.

Overall, this book was not particularly worth my time. Hopefully Robert K. Massie's well rated biography of Catherine the Great will be a better read.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great ( )

I first read this book when I was about thirteen. At the time, the book seemed impressive and instructive. I learned an enormous amount about Russian history prior to Catherine II's reign, as well as a wealth of material during her time.
Upon opening Oldenbourg's book as an adult, it seems too anecdotal and lacking in depth of analysis. ( )