Catherine Alekseyevna, the first Russian empress, was not among outstanding state figures; she reigned, but didn’t actually rule. And yet Catherine, without a doubt, can be called an extraordinary person. Former laundress and servant of Pastor Gluck, first a captive of Field Marshal B. P. Sheremetev, and later of A. D. Menshikov, she became the lawful wife of Tsar Peter I and, after his death, was raised to the Russian throne. In her book, the greatest expert on the Petrine era and a recognized classic of the historical-biographical genre, N. I. Pavlenko, tells about this woman’s remarkable life and about Russia’s internal and external policy during her reign.