Serendipity can be the author's best friend, with Robert Massie

Where do authors get their story ideas? According to Robert Massie, who wrote the bestselling biography, “Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman,” it is often serendipity. In this interview with Skip Prichard, Robert examines how a low-level princess rose to greatness and discusses the way he came to write biographies of historic Russian figures. When his newborn son was diagnosed as a hemophiliac, he began to do research on the condition and learned that the young son of Czar Nicholas II—who was deposed by the communists in the early 1900s—suffered from it as well. His research led him to an appreciation of Russian history. Catherine the Great was by any definition a political success story. Baptized Sophia Augusta Frederica, this young German girl would later take the name of Catherine II and become the most powerful woman in the world. Moving to Russia at just 14 years old, with no knowledge of the language and no hereditary claim to the throne, she later ascended to power in a coup. The people of Russia loved her, and she became one of the greatest empresses ever known. Robert says Catherine wanted to be a benevolent despot. “She wanted to raise her country by education, by wealth and by bringing Russia into the modern world even more than Peter the Great had, “he says. “She got so far starting with basically nothing. It’s the ultimate success story.” https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Grea... +CONNECT WITH ME+ Website: https://www.skipprichard.com/ Twitter:   / skipprichard   Facebook:   / skipprichardceo   *Join the Leadership Insights Newsletter* https://www.skipprichard.com/SUBSCRIBE/ Subscribe to this Channel:    / skipprichard   Learn More About My Books https://thebookofmistakes.com/ Watch The Book of Mistakes Book Trailer    • The Book of Mistakes - Book Trailer   Sending you the deepest appreciation for watching, learning, and connecting. Wishing you a life full of meaning, happiness, and success! Skip