About the book: 2009 / The first Russian Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna (1725–1727) was not one of the outstanding statesmen; she reigned, but did not rule. Nevertheless, Catherine can undoubtedly be called an extraordinary person. A former “portomoy” and servant of Pastor Gluck, a captive first of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev and then of A.D. Menshikov, she became the legal wife of Tsar Peter I, and after his death she was elevated to the Russian throne. The greatest expert on the Peter I era and a recognized classic of the historical and biographical genre, N. I. Pavlenko, tells in his new book about the amazing fate of this woman and about the domestic and foreign policy of Russia during the years of her reign. The correspondence of Peter I and Catherine is published in full as an appendix to the book. , which the royal spouses led for two decades.