Del Norte Public Library

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure young German princess who traveled to Russia at fourteen and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into Empress of Russia by sheer determination. Possessing...

"Your Next Breath from New York Times best selling author Iris Johansen. Catherine Ling is one of the CIA's most prized operatives. Raised on the streets of Hong Kong, she was pulled into the agency at the age of fourteen. If life has taught her anything, it is not to get attached, but there are two exceptions to that rule: her son Luke and her mentor Hu Chang. Luke was kidnapped at age two, and now, nine years later, he has astonishingly been returned...

In this heartbreaking and shocking expose, one of Dynasty's biggest stars lays bare a secretive organization that is holding her daughter hostage and details her mission to save her in this powerful depiction of a mother's love and determination. "I am a mother whose child is being abused and exploited. And I am not alone." In 2011, Catherine joined her daughter, India, at a leadership seminar for a new organization called NXIVM. Her twenty-year-old...

After receiving her PhD in biology, Raven lived in an isolated cottage in Montana, teaching remotely and leading field classes in Yellowstone National Park. Her only regular visitor was a fox, with whom she developed a friendship and from whom she learned about growth, loss, and belonging.

A portrait of the eighteenth-century Russian empress documents her rise from a little-known German princess to become one of Europe's most celebrated monarchs, in an account that offers insight into her public and private achievements.

Based on her correspondence as well as contemporary accounts, a modern portrait of the late eighteenth-century Russian Imperial ruler discusses how Empress Catherine II seized and kept the throne in spite of her illegitimate claim and a series of wars, rebellions, and plagues, tracing how she rendered Russia a major European power.

"A killer virus … an all-powerful Empress … an encounter cloaked in secrecy. Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the eighteenth century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation. But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments...

A satirical, comedic drama, based on the occasional historical fact, about the rise of Catherine the Great. An idealistic romantic young girl, she arrives from Prussia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor Peter hoping for love and sunshine and finds instead a dangerous, depraved, backward world that she resolves to change. All she has to do is kill her husband, beat the church, baffle the military, and get the court on her side.

This "melodious" mix of music, history, and travelogue "reveals a story inextricably linked to the drama of Russia itself...These pages sing like a symphony." -The Wall Street Journal Siberia's story is traditionally one of exiles, penal colonies, and unmarked graves. Yet there is another tale to tell. Dotted throughout this remote land are pianos-grand instruments created during the boom years of the nineteenth century, as well as humble Soviet-made...

A biography of the German-born Russian Empress who was one of the most influential of the eighteenth-century rulers.