St Petersburg: Three Centuries Of Murderous Desire
by Jonathan Miles /
2017 / English / EPUB
46.8 MB Download
'This extraordinary book brings to life an astonishing place.
Beautiful prose renders brutality vivid'
'This extraordinary book brings to life an astonishing place.
Beautiful prose renders brutality vivid'The Times
The Times - BOOK OF
THE WEEK
- BOOK OF
THE WEEKFrom Peter the Great to Putin, this is the unforgettable story
of St Petersburg – one of the most magical, menacing and
influential cities in the world.
From Peter the Great to Putin, this is the unforgettable story
of St Petersburg – one of the most magical, menacing and
influential cities in the world.
St Petersburg has always felt like an impossible metropolis,
risen from the freezing mists and flooded marshland of the River
Neva on the western edge of Russia. It was a new capital in an
old country. Established in 1703 by the sheer will of its
charismatic founder, the homicidal megalomaniac Peter-the-Great,
its dazzling yet unhinged reputation was quickly fashioned by the
sadistic dominion of its early rulers.
St Petersburg has always felt like an impossible metropolis,
risen from the freezing mists and flooded marshland of the River
Neva on the western edge of Russia. It was a new capital in an
old country. Established in 1703 by the sheer will of its
charismatic founder, the homicidal megalomaniac Peter-the-Great,
its dazzling yet unhinged reputation was quickly fashioned by the
sadistic dominion of its early rulers.
This city, in its successive incarnations – St Petersburg;
Petrograd; Leningrad and, once again, St Petersburg – has always
been a place of perpetual contradiction. It was a window on to
Europe and the Enlightenment, but so much of the glory of Russia
was created here: its literature, music, dance and, for a time,
its political vision. It gave birth to the artistic genius of
Pushkin and Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, Pavlova
and Nureyev. Yet, for all its glittering palaces, fairytale balls
and enchanting gardens, the blood of thousands has been spilt on
its snow-filled streets. It has been a hotbed of war and
revolution, a place of siege and starvation, and the crucible for
Lenin and Stalin’s power-hungry brutality.
This city, in its successive incarnations – St Petersburg;
Petrograd; Leningrad and, once again, St Petersburg – has always
been a place of perpetual contradiction. It was a window on to
Europe and the Enlightenment, but so much of the glory of Russia
was created here: its literature, music, dance and, for a time,
its political vision. It gave birth to the artistic genius of
Pushkin and Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, Pavlova
and Nureyev. Yet, for all its glittering palaces, fairytale balls
and enchanting gardens, the blood of thousands has been spilt on
its snow-filled streets. It has been a hotbed of war and
revolution, a place of siege and starvation, and the crucible for
Lenin and Stalin’s power-hungry brutality.
In
InSt Petersburg
St Petersburg, Jonathan Miles recreates the drama of
three hundred years in this absurd and brilliant city, bringing
us up to the present day, when – once more – its fate hangs in
the balance. This is an epic tale of murder, massacre and madness
played out against squalor and splendour. It is an unforgettable
portrait of a city and its people.
, Jonathan Miles recreates the drama of
three hundred years in this absurd and brilliant city, bringing
us up to the present day, when – once more – its fate hangs in
the balance. This is an epic tale of murder, massacre and madness
played out against squalor and splendour. It is an unforgettable
portrait of a city and its people.
