Catherine the great

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 6-9-Complex history, skillfully related. The first section, the biography of the empress, includes a peek into Russian society and information about those who influenced her. Sidebars, which include the Romanov family tree and a layout of local government and courts from 1775, help to clarify the complicated wording of the text. In the second section, readers are asked to judge for themselves as questions are posed for debate. They include "Enlightenment Empress or Old-Fashioned Autocrat?" and "The Serfs' Friend or the Serfs' Enemy?" Sources support both sides of each question, and students are encouraged to come to their own conclusions. Plentiful illustrations, photographs, and maps, mainly in color, balance each part of the book. Because of the intricate nature of the story, a little understanding of Russian history would be beneficial, but not obligatory. This title would be useful for reports as well as debates, and should be considered a first purchase.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Reviewed with Christine Hatt's Mao Zedong. Gr. 8-11. Launching the newudge for Yourself series of thought-provoking biographies are books about two figures whose deeds were particularly controversial: Catherine the Great and Mao Zedong. The subject's life story comprises the bulk of each title, followed by pairs of essays presenting opposite stances on several key issues: Was Catherine involved in the murders that helped guarantee her throne? Were Chinese women better off under Mao? Each argument is backed by quotes and statistics demonstrating how "facts . . . can be used to support completely different points of view." That's all to the good, but it seems ironic that a series striving to simulate how historians use sources neglects to include its own documentation, apart from the material used to bolster the for-and-against arguments. Despite that, these books are still slick, and smartly conceived, and they will prove useful for triggering debates in high-school social studies classrooms and for underscoring the elusiveness of historical "truth." Glossy pages, maps, and full-color illustrations (Mao has many black-and-white photos from the period) add visual appeal. --Ray Olson Copyright 2004 Booklist