Catherine the Great and Denis Diderot
In 1773, writes A. Lentin, the radical philosophe paid a difficult visit to his patroness in St Petersburg.
A. Lentin
Catherine the Great and Enlightened Despotism
Catherine’s cordial relations with the greatest thinkers of her day were no mistake, writes A. Lentin, but an integral part of her statecraft.
The Princess Dashkova, Part II
A. Lentin profiles the lively, meddlesome friend of Catherine the Great, who returned to Russia from her western travels in the year 1782.
The Princess Dashkova, Part I
A. Lentin introduces Princess Dashkova. During the reigns of Peter III and Catherine II, the Russian Princess was a tireless intellectual and a seasoned western traveller.
Voltaire and Peter the Great
‘The story of Charles XII,’ wrote Voltaire, ‘was entertaining; that of Peter instructive.’ A. Lentin describes a unique example of early modern Franco-Russian relations.
Edward Gibbon and The Golden Age of the Antonines
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire appears to offer a paean to the civilised society of the Antonines. But Gibbon, as A. Lentin reveals, was well aware that it bestowed 'the benefits of order' without the 'blessing of freedom'.