Oh, hi! Thank you! I'm always pleased when I see you sign up for an exchange, because I think, "Maybe that means we'll get more Peter III fic!" :)
"do I even have English sources? How embarrassing!"
No, the embarrassing part is that I can only read English sources! That's why I need a Russian speaker to tell me what's what. (And why you're always welcome in the Frederick the Great discussion posts, where none of us know Russian, and which are increasingly a misnomer for "Early Modern Europe discussion posts", as is called out in the latesttwo. IOW, if you showed up just to talk about Russia, you'd fit in perfectly.)
Agh I feel like I could be more helpful, but every time I think of something to recommend I realize it's in Russian lol.
I mean, that's okay! Both because I might learn Russian someday, and because if the text is relatively modern (see below), there's always Google translate.
In my last two years of studying German, I realized that 90% of my progress has been made because selenak gives me recommendations for books that are relevant to my interests. Turns out that if I'm going to be spending hours a day struggling with a language, day after day after day, I'd better be DAMN interested in the content!
So Russian recs are welcome even if I can't immediately benefit from them.
(Sometimes, if it's primary-source based, it's in freaking horrible old print font + old(er) Russian with weird ass syntax so it's not even like you could reasonably google translate that.)
Oh, lol, I know this well from German! I'm only just starting to be able to handle horrible old print font plus weird ass syntax, oh god.
But, frankly, if you're looking for something specific I'm sure I could look around and let you know?
Honestly, I'm just looking to expand my knowledge of what was going on in Russia in the 18th century, especially the earlier part. Anything on Elizaveta, Anna Ivanovna, or Anna Leopoldovna (the love triangle with Julia and Lynar!) would be especially great! Or going back even earlier, the regent Sophia Alekseyevna. But I'm also down for more reading on Peter the Great. And since it always comes up in the context of Frederick the Great and his father, I'm curious to learn more about the Tsarevich Alexei episode.
Do you have opinions on the other essays in the The Emperors and Empresses of Russia: Reconsidering the Romanovs volume you linked to? Are they worth reading?
ETA: Oh God, Massie the Catherine stan...my nemesis...
Hahaha, yeah, I read his Peter III take and was like, "Well, that's definitely an uncritical acceptance of the older school of thought."
Re: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF
"do I even have English sources? How embarrassing!"
No, the embarrassing part is that I can only read English sources! That's why I need a Russian speaker to tell me what's what. (And why you're always welcome in the Frederick the Great discussion posts, where none of us know Russian, and which are increasingly a misnomer for "Early Modern Europe discussion posts", as is called out in the latest two. IOW, if you showed up just to talk about Russia, you'd fit in perfectly.)
Agh I feel like I could be more helpful, but every time I think of something to recommend I realize it's in Russian lol.
I mean, that's okay! Both because I might learn Russian someday, and because if the text is relatively modern (see below), there's always Google translate.
In my last two years of studying German, I realized that 90% of my progress has been made because
So Russian recs are welcome even if I can't immediately benefit from them.
(Sometimes, if it's primary-source based, it's in freaking horrible old print font + old(er) Russian with weird ass syntax so it's not even like you could reasonably google translate that.)
Oh, lol, I know this well from German! I'm only just starting to be able to handle horrible old print font plus weird ass syntax, oh god.
But, frankly, if you're looking for something specific I'm sure I could look around and let you know?
Honestly, I'm just looking to expand my knowledge of what was going on in Russia in the 18th century, especially the earlier part. Anything on Elizaveta, Anna Ivanovna, or Anna Leopoldovna (the love triangle with Julia and Lynar!) would be especially great! Or going back even earlier, the regent Sophia Alekseyevna. But I'm also down for more reading on Peter the Great. And since it always comes up in the context of Frederick the Great and his father, I'm curious to learn more about the Tsarevich Alexei episode.
Do you have opinions on the other essays in the The Emperors and Empresses of Russia: Reconsidering the Romanovs volume you linked to? Are they worth reading?
ETA: Oh God, Massie the Catherine stan...my nemesis...
Hahaha, yeah, I read his Peter III take and was like, "Well, that's definitely an uncritical acceptance of the older school of thought."