Love & conquest
Subtitle: personal correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin
By: edited and translated by Douglas Smith.
Contributors: Potemkin, Grigoriĭ Aleksandrovich, kni͡a︡zʹ, 1739-1791.; Smith, Douglas, 1962-
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: DeKalb
Language: eng
Number of pages: 421
Subjects: Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796 -- Correspondence; Potemkin, Grigoriĭ Aleksandrovich, kni͡a︡zʹ, 1739-1791 -- Correspondence; Empresses -- Russia -- Correspondence; Statesmen -- Russia -- Correspondence
Genres: Correspondence.
Other titles: Love and conquest
Description: "Of all of history's great romances, few can compare with that of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin. Their turbulent and complicated relationship shocked their contemporaries and continues to intrigue observers of Russia centuries later. Lovers, companions, and, most likely, husband and wife, Catherine and Potemkin were also close political partners, and for a time Potemkin served as Catherine's de facto co-ruler of the Russian Empire. Their letters offer an intimate glimpse into the lovers' unguarded moments, revealing both ecstatic expressions of love and candid insights on eighteenth-century politics." "Beginning with Potemkin's initial letter to Catherine written while off fighting the Turks in 1769 and concluding with his farewell note scribbled the day before his death in 1791, the correspondence spans most of Catherine's reign. The letters are at once personal and political, private and public. Many of Catherine's love letters to Potemkin written during their stormy affair reveal the empress's passionate personality. Potemkin's letters provide rare insight into his arrogant and mercurial character, while serving to dispel the myth of Potemkin as little more than a corrupt sycophant."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [405]-410) and index.
Translation of and selections from: Ekaterina II i G.A. Potemkin : lichnai͡a︡ perepiska 1769-1791. Moskva : Nauka, 1997.
Table of contents: title: Ardent zeal, sincere confessions, 1769-1774; title: Lovers, 1774-1775; title: Breaking up, 1776; title: Partners, 1777-1781; title: Annexing the Crimea, 1782-1783; title: Southern visions, 1784-1787; title: War, 1787; title: The siege of Ochakov, 1788; title: A gallant campaign, the Count's betrayal and Blackie, 1789; title: One paw out of the mud, 1790; title: Death on the Steppe, 1791.