As a young guardsman, Grigory Potemkin caught the eye ofCatherine the Great with a theatrical act of gallantry during thecoup that placed her on the throne. Over the next thirty years hewould become her lover, co-ruler, and husband in a secret marriagethat left room for both to satisfy their sexual appetites. Potemkinproved to be one of the most brilliant statesmen of the eighteenthcentury, helping Catherine expand the Russian empire and deftlymanipulating allies and adversaries from Constantinople toLondon. This acclaimed biographyvividly re-creates Potemkin’s outsized character andaccomplishments and restores him to his rightful place as acolossus of the eighteenth century. It chronicles the tempestuousrelationship between Potemkin and Catherine, a remarkable loveaffair between two strong personalities that helped shape thecourse of history. As he brings these characters to life,Montefiore also tells the story of the creation of the Russianempire. This is biography as it is meant to be: both inti
The complete history of one of the most long-lived andlegendary bands in rock history, written by its official historianand publicist a must-have chronicle for all Dead Heads,and for students of rock and the 1960s’ counterculture. From 1965 to 1995, the Grateful Dead flourished as one of themost beloved, unusual, and accomplished musical entities to evergrace American culture. The creative synchronicity among JerryGarcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Ron“Pigpen” McKernan exploded out of the artistic ferment of the earlysixties’ roots and folk scene, providing the soundtrack for theDionysian revels of the counterculture. To those in the know, theDead was an ongoing tour de force: a band whose constant commitmentto exploring new realms lay at the center of a thirty-year journeythrough an ever-shifting array of musical, cultural, and mentallandscapes. Dennis McNally, the band’s historian and publicist for more thantwenty years, takes readers b
