A History of Royals discussion

It appears that some of our members are getting advanced copies of this book from Random House. Lucky ducks! Here is a thread for you to discuss.

For those of us who just want to pop in and drool. I'm sure there will be spoilers, so read at your own risk!

I started this one this evening. So far, so good.

I haven't seen my copy yet, but I'm on the other end of the coast. Don't know when I'll get to it.

I'm reading this to review for the Historical Novel Society. I'm really enjoying it so far. This is a person about whom I know nothing, so I'm finding it fascinating.

I've read Annette Motley's Men on White Horses and liked that a lot. Motley's book only deals with Catherine's early life leading up to her coronation, but was still quite interesting. I loved the way she portrayed nutter husband Peter.

I'm about 50-60 pages in and it's great so far!

**THROUGH CHAPTER 8 COMMENTS BELOW**



Oh my, is that mother Johanna a piece of work or what! I love how she thinks all the honors are for her, and I love how she seems so excited to be a spy (until it utterly fails). It's amazing to me that she can't keep her eye on the prize - get your daughter married!

Susan wrote: "I'm reading this to review for the Historical Novel Society. I'm really enjoying it so far. This is a person about whom I know nothing, so I'm finding it fascinating."

Like you I knew nothing of her either, and I was so surprised to learn that she was a Polish countess, and not Russian at all.

Edited to correct my brainless blunder :)

Polish? Umm, no. Both Johanna and Sophia/Catherine were German princesses.

Rebecca wrote: "Polish? Umm, no. Both Johanna and Sophia/Catherine were German princesses."

Sorry, my bad. Up at 3:30 AM today :/

Must have been thinking of the Polish lover.

I'm a Catherine buff having read most of her biographers who almost uniformly paint her as a scarlet woman, sexually insatiable. Her auto-bio, cut off almost in the middle of a sentence for unknown reasons, is particularly revealing, letting us have a glimpse of Catherine as she saw herself. One reviewer stated Troyat's book to be "a great account of a ruler widely known but very misuderstood." I'd have to give that an Amen. I have let Catherine show the two sides of herself, her political strength and her personal frailties, in my historical fiction novel, Destinies. Available Kindle, Sony, IPad, Sony, Kobe etc. xoox Karleene (http://www.karleenemorrow.com)

Rebecca wrote: "Polish? Umm, no. Both Johanna and Sophia/Catherine were German princesses."

Very true, unless Poland was part of Germany then,and Germany was not yet united, I think. I still hae trouble with all this.

Barbara wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Polish? Umm, no. Both Johanna and Sophia/Catherine were German princesses."

Very true, unless Poland was part of Germany then,and Germany was not yet united, I think. I still hae..."

Catherine was a German princess, born in Stettin, her father Prince Christian Agustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, a poor principality of little fame. She was loved by her father but her social climbing, self-centered mother Johanna, had little time and less love for her until Elizabeth, empress of Russia, made it known she was seeking a wife for her adopted son, her nephew Petr. Johanna wasted no time in whisking the unwilling Catherine away to Russia. xoox, Karleene (http://www.karleenemorrow.com)

I like the frequent section breaks that Massie uses. It makes it easy to dip into the novel at intervals, which is about all I've been able to do this week.

And Peter and his toy soldiers! I thought the English had some dysfunctional royals, but he puts them to shame.

Can't wait to get my copy. I believe there are more than just toy soldiers in Peter's nutty world...

Misfit wrote: "Can't wait to get my copy. I believe there are more than just toy soldiers in Peter's nutty world..."

Oh there is, believe me. I hope that book gets there today or very soon. I can't wait to talk this one over with you.

The Poland question -- Poland was still independent at the start of this book. Indeed, one of Catherine's lovers, Stanislaus Poniatowski, was a candidate for King of Poland at this time. When we reach a certain point, I have some interesting sidebars about Poland...

Ok, so I got this book Thursday or Friday, but I just had the chance to pick it up a bit ago (loads of homework) so I'm only a couple chapters into it. So far, I like it. Normally the early stages of non-fiction take a while to grab me. It's like I have to be in a certain mood to read it. I'm not having that problem so far with this. Being in the first couple chapters, all I can say is, I can't stand her mother. LOL. More later.

Funny! I don't think anyone can stand her mother and she was no less popular back then. With that mother, and being jerked away from her father, only one who did give her love, it's no wonder that she ended up emotionally messed up even though politically astute. xoox Karleene

Sara W wrote: "I'm about 50-60 pages in and it's great so far!

**THROUGH CHAPTER 8 COMMENTS BELOW**



Oh my, is that mother Johanna a piece of work or what! I love how she thinks all the honors are for..."

I so agree; what mother would take her daughter to court with old clothes and dress herself. They should have sent Johanna home immediately!!