1926; Stamp inside front cover "Department of the Navy, Bureau of Navication, U.S.S. Melville"; Alfred A. Knopf publishers, New York; hardbound in decorative boards; good condition with some ageing of pages and boards (pics); no dust jacket.
 
U.S.S. Melville -
USS Melville (AD-2) was a United States Navy destroyer tender that saw service in both World Wars. Laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, on 11 November 1913, she was launched on 2 March 1913, sponsored by Miss Helen W. Neel, granddaughter of Rear Admiral George W. Melville; and was first commissioned on 3 December 1915, Comdr. Henry Bertram Price in command.
 
Catherine The Great -
Catherine II (Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Yekaterina Alekseyevna; 2 May [O.S. 21 April] 1729 – 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796), also known as Catherine the Great (Екатери́на Вели́кая, Yekaterina Velikaya), born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following a coup d'état when her husband, Peter III, was overthrown. Under her reign, Russia was revitalized; it grew larger and stronger, and was recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.
 
In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish wars, and Russia colonised the territories of Novorossiya along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas.
 
In the west, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine's former lover, king Stanisław August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russia started to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.