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 a brilliant mind and an insatiable curiosity as a young woman, she devoured the works of Enlightenment philosophers and, when she reached the throne, attempted to use their principles to guide her rule of the vast and backward Russian empire.

Carl Warner’s photographs have been unofficially circulating on the Internet and in mass e-mailings, to the pleasure of thou­sands upon thousands of viewers. Now, these images and many new ones are collected in one volume

Round and marquise-shaped amethyst stones form bright butterfly wings in this charming sterling silver pendant. The stones are held securely in prong settings and frame a silver centerpiece detailed with polished bead accents. Appointed with a split bale, this pendant slides along an 18-inch sterling silver frozantin chain that fastens in back with a spring ring clasp. Amethyst, the birthstone for February, is a gemstone that has been prized by royalty throughout the ages for its regal purple color.

The canon VIXIA HF M41 flash memory camcorder features a 32GB internal flash drive and dual SDXC-compatible memory card slots in an ultra-sleek, compact and lightweight body - convenience and capability wrapped in one package. Canons leading imaging technologies, including a genuine canon 10x HD video lens and new HD CMOS pro image sensor, deliver high video resolution, outstanding low-light performance, and a wide dynamic range. New features such as cinema-look filters, story creator, and touch decoration provide an easy and fun way to shoot great video and add creative flair.

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Kit includes the Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera and the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS type II Lens. The EOS Rebel T3 delivers beautiful photos and video, speed, simplicity and fun. It features a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor and Canon DIGIC 4 Image Processor for richly detailed images and quick camera response. It has Canon's amazing 63-zone, dual-layer metering for accurate exposures and features Canon's Basic+ function, HD video recording and Live View shooting, plus a convenient in-camera Feature Guide.