Seemingly, lovers of history and devotees of pop culture can’t get enough of Catherine the Great. As evidence, three popular television documentaries/series have come out in recent years. Ekaterina is a Russia-1 historical television series from 2015 (now available on Amazon) about the rise of Catherine the Great. Last year, HBO produced Catherine the Great, a four-part mini-series starring Helen Mirren as Catherine at the end of her reign. And most recently, Hulu has an “occasionally true” comedy series about the young Empress, called simply The Great, starring Elle Fanning.
The Great is the most unusual of the three. It is at times funny, dark, bawdy, and gory, and often surprising. It is not historically accurate (nor does it claim to be). But it certainly was good pandemic entertainment.
The single season of The Great has left viewers craving more. Good on The MarySue for offering 16 Books and 1 Zine to Read After Bingeing on Hulu’s The Great. The list includes a few biographies, Russian love stories (fiction and non), roundups of royal scandals through the years, juicy tales of sex and murder… AND one story of the shipwreck Vrouw Maria. Did you love The Great? Craving more Catherine? Turn your attention to The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure: Catherine the Great, a Golden Age Masterpiece, and a Legendary Shipwreck. Read the full list on The MarySue here…
