The author uses Catherine's actions as a method used to show the author's view of Catherine to his audience. The first point is that the way Sumner portrayed her was similar to the second film in that she was seen as a strong, independent, and politically perceptive leader. The author describes her as "more gifted and full of vitality than any other woman who has sat on the throne..." Catherine was a vehicle that would bring radical change to Russia. BH Sumner shows the audience throughout the book that in order to carry out the enormous internal reforms that Catherine accomplished during her reign, she had to be a courageous and adventurous person, willing to take the risk to achieve her goals. An example Sumner uses to illustrate her willingness to take risks is in 1762, when she conspired to assassinate her husband, Peter, so that she would ascend to the Russian throne. One facet of Catherine's story that was not addressed in both films was her fascination with the Enlightenment period. Sumner explains in detail how the Enlightenment period strongly influenced his reign, policies adopted and reforms