About the series
The young daughter of an impoverished German prince, Sophie Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, marries the Russian emperor Peter III and becomes Empress Catherine II. At first full of hope for a pure and radiant love, the girl quickly grows disillusioned with her imperial husband, both as a person and as a ruler. While he turns the palace into a never-ending party, indulging in banquets, hunting, debauchery, and the humiliation of his subjects, the young empress begins to make her own plans for how to govern Russia.