000			03012cam a2200397 i 4500
001			on1130394239
003			OCoLC
005			20201203141759.0
008			200427t20202020nyu 000 1 eng
010			_a 2020019385
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCO _dOCLCF _dOCLCQ _dMJ8 _dOCLCO _dILC _dYU6 _dOCLCO _dJPL _dHBP _dUTW _dTCH _dOCLCO _dYDX _dCNCAR _dOCLCO _dJTH _dNFG
019			_a1202087089
020			_a9781250214430 _qhardcover
020			_a1250214432 _qhardcover
035			_a(OCoLC)1130394239 _z(OCoLC)1202087089
042			_apcc
043			_ae-ur---
092			_aALPSTEN, _bELLEN
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aAlpsten, Ellen, _d1971- _eauthor.
245	1	0	_aTsarina / _cEllen Alpsten.
250			_aFirst U.S. edition.
264		1	_aNew York, NY : _bSt. Martin's Press, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group, _c2020.
264		4	_c©2020
300			_a470 pages ; _c25 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
520			_a"Before there was Catherine the Great, there was Catherine Alexeyevna: the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Ellen Alpsten's rich, sweeping first-person narrative is the story of her rise to power. St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself. Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter's powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life--the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter's bedchamber--she knows the peril of her position. Peter's attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive on a stake in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar's death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself? From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter's torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire"-- _cProvided by publisher.
600	0	0	_aCatherine _bI, _cEmpress of Russia, _d1684-1727 _vFiction.
651		0	_aRussia _xHistory _yCatherine I, 1725-1727 _vFiction.
600	0	0	_aPeter _bI, _cEmperor of Russia, _d1672-1725 _vFiction.
655		7	_aBiographical fiction. _2lcgft _9682
655		7	_aHistorical fiction. _2lcgft _9683
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c320672 _d320672