Maps                                       xv
  PART I A German Princess                         1  (92)
    1 Sophia's Childhood                           3  (10)
    2 Summoned to Russia                           13 (6)
    3 Frederick 11 and the Journey to Russia       19 (9)
    4 Empress Elizabeth                            28 (12)
    5 The Making of a Grand Duke                   40 (9)
    6 Meeting Elizabeth and Peter                  49 (3)
    7 Pneumonia                                    52 (5)
    8 Intercepted Letters                          57 (5)
    9 Conversion and Betrothal                     62 (4)
    10 A Pilgrimage to Kiev and Transvestite       66 (6)
    Balls
    11 Smallpox                                    72 (8)
    12 Marriage                                    80 (9)
    13 Johanna Goes Home                           89 (4)
  PART II A Painful Marriage                       93 (56)
    14 The Zhukova Affair                          95 (5)
    15 Peepholes                                   100(6)
    16 A Watchdog                                  106(5)
    17 "He Was Not a King"                         111(3)
    18 In the Bedroom                              114(4)
    19 A House Collapses                           118(3)
    20 Summer Pleasures                            121(4)
    21 Dismissals at Court                         125(4)
    22 Moscow and the Country                      129(4)
    23 Choglokov Makes an Enemy and Peter          133(3)
    Survives a Plot
    24 A Bath Before Easter and a Coachman's       136(4)
    Whip
    25 Oysters and an Actor                        140(4)
    26 Reading, Dancing, and a Betrayal            144(5)
  PART III Seduction, Metherhood, and              149(76)
  Confrontation
    27 Saltykov                                    151(11)
    28 The Birth of the Heir                       162(9)
    29 Retaliation                                 171(3)
    30 The English Ambassador                      174(5)
    31 A Diplomatic Earthquake                     179(3)
    32 Poniatowski                                 182(4)
    33 A Dead Rat, an Absent Lover, and a Risky    186(6)
    Proposal
    34 Catherine Challenges Brockdorff; She        192(6)
    Gives a Party
    35 Apraksin's Retreat                          198(4)
    36 Catherine's Daughter                        202(3)
    37 The Fall of Bestuzhev                       205(4)
    38 A Gamble                                    209(6)
    39 Confrontation                               215(4)
    40 A Menage a Quatre                           219(6)
  PART IV "The Time Has Come!"                     225(54)
    41 Panin, Orlov, and Elizabeth's Death         227(13)
    42 The Brief Reign of Peter III                240(11)
    43 "Dura!"                                     251(15)
    44 "We Ourselves Know Not What We Did"         266(13)
  PART V Empress of Russia                         279(132)
    45 Coronation                                  281(9)
    46 The Government and the Church               290(12)
    47 Serfdom                                     302(11)
    48 "Madame Orlov Could Never Be Empress of     313(8)
    Russia"
    49 The Death of Ivan VI                        321(9)
    50 Catherine and the Enlightenment             330(13)
    51 The Nakaz                                   343(8)
    52 "All Free Estates of the Realm"             351(12)
    53 "The King We Have Made"                     363(8)
    54 The First Partition of Poland and the       371(12)
    First Turkish War
    55 Doctors, Smallpox, and Plague               383(9)
    56 The Return of "Peter the Third"             392(11)
    57 The Last Days of the "Marquis de            403(8)
    Pugachev"
  PART VI Potemlin and Favoritism                  411(50)
    58 Vasilchikov                                 413(4)
    59 Catherine and Potemkin: Passion             417(13)
    60 Potemkin Ascending                          430(5)
    61 Catherine and Potemkin: Separation          435(7)
    62 New Relationships                           442(6)
    63 Favorites                                   448(13)
  PART VII "My Name Is Catherine the Second"       461(114)
    64 Catherine, Paul, and Natalia                463(9)
    65 Paul, Maria, and the Succession             472(11)
    66 Potemkin: Builder and Diplomat              483(6)
    67 Crimean Journey and "Potemkin Villages"     489(14)
    68 The Second Turkish War and the Death of     503(16)
    Potemkin
    69 Art, Architecture, and the Bronze           519(14)
    Horseman
    70 "They Are Capable of Hanging Their King     533(15)
    from a Lamppost!"
    71 Dissent in Russia, Final Partition of       548(12)
    Poland
    72 Twilight                                    560(9)
    73 The Death of Catherine the Great            569(6)
Acknowledgments                                    575(2)
Selected Bibliography                              577(4)
Notes                                              581(20)
Index                                              601