Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1 : A German princess. Sophia's childhood -- Summoned to Russia -- Frederick II and the journey to Russia -- Empress Elizabeth -- The making of a grand duke -- Meeting Elizabeth and Peter -- Pneumonia -- Intercepted letters -- Conversion and betrothal -- A pilgrimage to Kiev and transvestite balls -- Smallpox -- Marriage -- Johanna goes home -- Part 2 : A painful marriage. The Zhukova affair -- Peepholes -- A watchdog -- He was not a king -- In the bedroom -- A house collapses -- Summer pleasures -- Dismissals at court -- Moscow and the country -- Choglokov makes an enemy and Peter survives a plot -- A bath before Easter and a coachman's whip -- Oysters and an actor -- Reading, dancing, and a betrayal -- Part 3 : Seduction, motherhood, and confrontation. Saltykov -- The birth of the heir -- Retaliation -- The English ambassador -- A diplomatic earthquake -- Poniatowski -- A dead rat, an absent lover, and a risky proposal -- Catherine challenges Brockdorff; she gives a party -- Apraskin's retreat -- Catherine's daughter -- The fall of Bestuzhev -- A gamble -- Confrontation -- A menage a quatre -- Part 4 : The time has come! Panin, Orlov, and Elizabeth's death -- The brief reign of Peter III -- Dura! -- We ourselves know not what we did -- Part 5 : Empress of Russia. Coronation -- The government and the church -- Serfdom -- Madame Orlov could never be Empress of Russia -- The death of Ivan VI -- Catherine and the Enlightenment -- The Nakaz -- All free estates of the realm -- The king we have made -- The first partition of Poland and the first Turkish War -- Doctors, smallpox, and plague -- The return of Peter the Third -- The last days of the Marquis de Pugachev -- Part 6 : Potemkin and favoritism. Vasilchikov -- Catherine and Potemkin : Passion -- Potemkin ascending -- Catherine and Potemkin : separation -- New relationships -- Favorites -- Part 7 : My name is Catherine the Second. Catherine, Paul, and Natalia -- Paul, Maria, and the succession -- Potemkin : builder and diplomat -- Crimean journey and Potemkin villages -- The Second Turkish War and the death of Potemkin -- Art, architecture, and the bronze horseman -- They are capable of hanging their king from a lamppost! -- Dissent in Russia, final partition of Poland -- Twilight -- The death of Catherine the Great.

Description based on print version record.