Any Robert Massie fans??

[cairns]

I think I've read every one of his books- some twice or more (esp. Dreadnought and Peter the Great). His biography of Catherine the Great is out and I can't wait to dig in.

[dw1]

A big Massie fan here.

IMHO, his best is Peter the Great , but Dreadnought and Castles of Steel are really up there as well.

Castles of Steel (the "sequel" to Dreadnought) takes a while to get going, but is very, very good once one gets into it. I personally would have liked for him to have more post-Jutland details (e.g. even more on the submarine campaign), but I guess he had to limit the book to the almost 900 pages it is!

At age 82, I'm very happy to see that he's still up to releasing a new book. I'm looking forward to Catherine the Great, as the other bio I started to read about her wasn't very engaging or well structured.

I admit, however, that I haven't read the bio of Catherine the Great written by Henri Troyat, which has gotten very good reviews.

What did you think about his books on the last of the Romanovs?

[cairns]

I loved them. Nicholas and Alexandria in particular. I agree about Peter the Great- it is my favorite to date. Every few years I pick it up again and always find something I missed. Proably the most compelling book about the most compelling individual I've ever read. It contains so much detail but reads like a novel- you can't wait to get to the next page. I didn't find Castles of Steel as riveting but I've only read it once.

Dreadnought I loved too. The f-ups of Beattie and Churchill were surprising and fascinating....and yet they went on to bigger and better. Beatty and his "There's something wrong with our bloody ships today."

No ***** sherlock.

If you haven't read it- The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes is another of my favorites. Oddly enough the only decent book by Hughes but it is a thoroughly researched, beautifully written book about Australia's history.