gasp. Prussia was on the verge of ruin. The Russian army had entered Berlin; the power of the new military monarchy had been totally broken at Kunersdorf. The death of Elizabeth and the accession of her mad nephew, Peter III, retrieved a desperate situation. For the mad nephew was a German Prince, a Duke of Holstein and a passionate admirer of Frederick the Great. Peter III was murdered in 1762. He reigned only a few months, but he reigned sufficiently long to save Prussia from destruction and to surrender all the advantages secured by Russian triumphs and dearly paid for by Russian blood.
VI
There is no more fantastic fairy tale and there is no more arresting drama than the life story of Catherine the Great which recently has been so brilliantly told by Mr. Francis Gribble. A Cinderella amongst German royalties, a pauper princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, Catherine became the mightiest potentate of her age. Although the nominee of Frederick the Great, she pursued consistently a national Russian policy. And she had good reasons for doing so. For no throne was less secure than the throne of the
