''The Favorite'' (russian: Фаворит) is a historical novel by Soviet writer

Valentin Pikul Valentin Savvich Pikul (russian: Валенти́н Са́ввич Пи́куль) (July 13, 1928 – July 16, 1990) was a popular and prolific Soviet historical novelist of Ukrainian-Russian heritage. He lived and worked in Riga. Pikul's novels w ...

, written in 1979-82.

Plot

The novel describes the life of an outstanding military and political figure of the second half of the 18th century,

Grigory Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...

. Being one of the most "officially" beloved of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, Potemkin had a huge influence on the Empress, but he used it not only for personal gain, but for the good of the state. Potemkin became famous as a wise politician, an experienced diplomat, a brave captain. Under his leadership, major reforms have been carried out in the Russian army. However, envy and hatred of the last favorite of Catherine II, Count

Platon Zubov Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov (russian: Платон Александрович Зубов; ) was the last of Catherine the Great's favourites and the most powerful man in the Russian Empire during the last years of her reign. Life The princ ...

led Potemkin to disgrace at first, and then to a premature death. Much of the novel is devoted to the description of two Russian-Turkish wars,

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to ...

was destroyed as a result of this and the occupied territories were incorporated into the Russian Empire.

External links

Brief summaries of Valentin Pikul`s books
1984 novels Novels by Valentin Pikul Historical novels War novels {{1980s-war-novel-stub