{"product_id":"catherine-the-great-love-sex-and-power-9780312378639","title":"Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eGrandes Horizontales\u003c\/i\u003e comes a book that the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e calls \"a vivid portrait of a sensual and intellectual woman.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDutiful daughter, passionate lover, doting grandmother, tireless legislator, generous patron of artists and philosophers---Empress Catherine II was all these things, and more. Her reign, the longest in Russian imperial history, lasted from 1762 until her death in 1796; during these years she realized Peter the Great's ambition to establish Russia as a major European power and to transform its new capital, St. Petersburg, into a city to rival Paris and London. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet Catherine was not Russian by birth and had no legitimate claim to the Russian throne; she seized it and held on to it, through wars, rebellions, and plagues, by the force of her personality and an unshakable belief in her own destiny. Using Catherine's own correspondence, as well as contemporary accounts by courtiers, ambassadors, and foreign visitors, Virginia Rounding penetrates the character of this powerful, fascinating, and surprisingly sympathetic eighteenth-century figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martins Press-3PL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/22\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780312378639\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 566\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.40w x 1.60d","brand":"Virginia Rounding","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36635860304028,"sku":"9780312378639","price":32.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_02c460d5-87f1-4147-a862-f4336d9ebae7.jpg?v=1603840727","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/catherine-the-great-love-sex-and-power-9780312378639","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}