Free Republic

The first glimpse of the upcoming limited series shows us Mirren as the legendary monarch, who was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, making her the country's longest-ruling female leader. The series will show us Catherine toward the end of her rule in the 18th century, when she begins a steamy relationship with Grigory Potemkin (Jason Clarke), a military leader. "When I was young I dreamed of freedom, I dreamed of breaking chains," Catherine can be heard saying in the trailer. "But as you get older, your choices narrow. So instead I gave us an empire, but I knew...

I recently read the new biography of Trotsky by Oxford don Robert Service, published in 2009 by Pan Books. It is well-written and surprisingly interesting. The book does a great public service in describing the life of the actual Trotsky, whose previous “biographies” were little more than hagiographies written by his toady worshippers (people like Isaac Deutscher). The last time that I had taken any interest in Trotsky was when I was a teenager and had fleeting delusions of believing in “socialism.” Reading the new book as an adult and as an economist, I found it a useful opportunity to...