Chronicles the life of eighteenth-century Russian empress Catherine the Great, covering such aspects as her difficult early years of marriage, her fierce ambition, and the political intrigue that shaped her reign.

An imaginative retelling of Catherine the Great's improbable rise to power--as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.

Describes the life and times of Catherine the Great, one of Russia's most powerful rulers.

Traces the remarkable history of Catherine the Great's influential art collection and creation of the Hermitage, discussing how her cultural goals were part of a long-term plan to modernize and westernize Russia.

"The Imperial Wife follows the lives of two women, one in contemporary New York City and the other in eighteenth-century Russia. Tanya Kagan, a specialist in Russian art at a top New York auction house, is trying to entice Russia's wealthy oligarchs to bid on the biggest sale of her career, The Order of Saint Catherine, while making sense of the sudden and unexplained departure of her husband. As questions arise over the provenance of the Order and...

"A killer virus ... an all-powerful Empress ... an encounter cloaked in secrecy. Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the eighteenth century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation. But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments...

The Great returns in Season Two from Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee Tony McNamara (The Favourite). Catherine finally takes the Russian throne for her own- but if she thought coup-ing her husband was difficult, it's nothing compared to the realities of liberating a country that doesn't want to be. She'll battle her court, her team, even her own mother in a bid to bring the Enlightenment to Russia.

A satirical, comedic drama, based on the occasional historical fact, about the rise of Catherine the Great. An idealistic romantic young girl, she arrives from Prussia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor Peter hoping for love and sunshine and finds instead a dangerous, depraved, backward world that she resolves to change. All she has to do is kill her husband, beat the church, baffle the military, and get the court on her side.