The research is devoted to determining the place of Russian history in the fiction books of Empress Catherine II. The author identifies in the corpus of literary works of the Empress those texts in which Catherine II addressed the subjects of national history. The scholar draws conclusions about the sources on which the historical concept of Catherine II was built; analyzes the plots of three historical plays — “From the life of Rurik”, “The Initial management of Oleg”, “Igor”; identifies the most popular objects of historical memory — heroes and events in the history of Russia. Conclusions are drawn about the main features of the Empress’s ideological constructions, interpretations of images of the most significant historical figures, and the influence of Catherine II’s writings on the construction of historical representations of the past in the modern and contemporary history of Russian society.