Catherine the Great: Enlightened Empress?
Simon Henderson places a key figure into the context of modern Russian history.
Isabel de Madariaga, Catherine's greatest biographer, has written, 'Since I first took Catherine seriously as a ruler, some forty years ago, I have grown to like her very much.' Yet many historians have not allowed the Empress to grow on them. She has elicited strong and passionate condemnation. It is only recently that historians have sought to resurrect her image, replacing contempt with praise and understanding.
This article is available to History Today online subscribers only. If you are a subscriber, please log in.
Please choose one of these options to access this article:
- Purchase a online subscription and receive unlimited access to our archive for one week, one month or a year
- Purchase a print and website subscription, giving you one year's access to all our content and 12 editions of History Today magazine.
- If you are already a print subscriber, purchase the online archive upgrade for a year's worth of access at a reduced price
Call our Subscriptions department on +44 (0)20 3219 7813 for more information.
If you are logged in but still cannot access the article, please contact us
If you enjoyed this article, you might like these:
This Month's Magazine
Newsletter
From The Current Issue
Ian Bradley
|
Tessa Dunlop
|
Tim Stanley
|
Chris Millington
|
History Today App
Follow Us
From The Archive
 The Hudson's Bay Company was one of the central forces moulding the development of the vast tracts of land that today are Canada - but as Barry Gough explains here, the circumstances of its launch in 1670 also reveal much about the commercial forces, personalities and rivalries of Restoration England. |
On This Day In History
Richard Cavendish describes the massacre of the 'slave hounds' at the settlement of Pottawatomie Creek on May 24th, 1856.
