This systematic collection of the testimony and documents of contemporaries as a genre was created by V. Veresaev ("Pushkin in his Life" and "Gogol in his Life"). This book portrays Catherine the Great as a private person through the eyes of her contemporaries: her habits, character, feelings and illnesses. Short annotations on people whose accounts were used are presented. The documents are divided into ten major periods in Catherine"s life: Princess-Cinderella; I wanted to become Russian...; St. Petersburg virgin; Coup d"etat on June 28th, 1762; Vesuvius in a skirt; The End of Potemkin; Death of Catherine the Great; Personality: Uncut testimonies; Conversations with Catherine the Great; After death. Bibliography and name index.