Born in 1709, the illegitimate daughter of Peter the Great and a woman of Livonian yeoman stock, Elizabeth was the only one of the Tsar's many children to survive to maturity. She lived through the reigns of four monarchs after her father's death, before seizing the throne in 1741 at the age of thirty-two. Faced with governing a country made unstable by frequent changes of ruler and caught up in a web of international politics, she evolved a policy that set Russia on the road to becoming a major Western power.--From book jacket.

"The Saint Petersburg Times" in Florida presents a brief biographical sketch of Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709-1762). The sketch highlights Elizabeth Petrovna's succession, reign, personal life, and death.

Empress Catherine II brought Europe to Russia, and Russia to Europe, during her long and eventful reign (1762—96). She fostered the culture of the Enlightenment and greatly expanded the immense empire created by Czar Ivan the Terrible, shifting the balance of power in Europe eastward. Famous for her will to power and for her dozen lovers, Catherine was also a prolific and gifted writer. Fluent in French, Russian, and German, Catherine published political theory, journalism, comedies, operas, and history, while writing thousands of letters as she corresponded with Voltaire and other public figures. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provides an unparalleled window into eighteenth-century Russia and the mind of an absolute ruler. With insight, humor, and candor, Catherine presents her eyewitness account of history, from her whirlwind entry into the Russian court in 1744 at age fourteen as the intended bride of Empress Elizabeth I’s nephew, the eccentric drunkard and future Peter III, to her unhappy marriage; from her two children, several miscarriages, and her and Peter’s numerous affairs to the political maneuvering that enabled Catherine to seize the throne from him in 1762. Catherine’s eye for telling details makes for compelling reading as she describes the dramatic fall and rise of her political fortunes. This definitive new translation from the French is scrupulously faithful to her words and is the first for which translators have consulted original manuscripts written in Catherine’s own hand. It is an indispensable work for anyone interested in Catherine the Great, Russian history, or the eighteenth century.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1899 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V. THE TRIUMPH OF BESTUZHEV. 1744--1748. Carl Peter Ulric--His early career--Arrival in Russia--Made Grand Duke and heir to the throne--Arrival of the Princesses of Zerbst--Serious illness of the bride elect--Sophia Augusta becomes Catherine Aleksyevna--The betrothal--The wedding--European Politics--Frederick's dread of Russia--His intrigues against Restuzhev--Beginning of the Second Silesian War--La Chetardie expelled from Russia--* Bestuzhev made Grand Chancellor--Reconciliation of Austria and Russia--Reverses of Frederick II--Frederick declares war against . Saxony--Warning protest of Elizabeth--End of the Second Silesian War--Expulsion of "Madame Zerbst" from Russia--Quarrel between Bestuzhev and Vorontsov--Dismissal of Mardefeld--Death of Anne Leopoldovna--Negotiations with England--The Ajaglo-Russian Alliance--March of the Russian troops to the Rhine--Signal triumph and commanding position of the Grand Chancellor--Disgrace of Lestocq. In transferring the court, for a time, from the marshes of St. Petersburg to the groves of Moscow, Elizabeth was chiefly preoccupied with the thought of securing the imperial succession by marrying her nephew, the youthful Grand Duke Peter, as soon as possible to a suitable Princess. The young gentleman in question, the only son of Elizabeth's elder sister, Anne, Duchess of Holstein, was born at Kiel, on January 29th, 1/ DEGREES8, and christened Carl Peter Ulric. His mother died a week after his birth, and, for the first twelve years of his life, the unfortunate had, who was at best a poor creature physically and mentally, seems to have been abandoned to the tender mercies of ignorant and brutal tutors and guardians. 1 No doubt, like most semi-idiots, he was naturally obstinate and intractable; yet...