Catherine the Great muses on her life, her relentless battle between love and power, the country she brought into the glorious new century, and the bodies left in her wake. By the end of her life, she had accomplished more than virtually any other woman in history. She built and grew the Romanov empire, amassed a vast fortune of art and land, and controlled an unruly and conniving court. Now, in a voice both indelible and intimate, she reflects on...

A follow-up to "The Winter Palace" continues the Romanov monarch's reflections on her world-changing rule in the shadow of the French Revolution, during which she orchestrates a political maneuver to secure her successor.