Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia - Softcover

Lincoln, Bruce

 
9780465083244: Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia

Synopsis

For Russians, St.Petersburg has embodied power, heroism and fortitude. It has encompassed all the things that the Russians are and that they hope to become. Opulence and artistic brilliance blend with images of suffering on a monumental scale to make up the historic persona the late W. Bruce Lincoln's lavish biography of this mysterious, complex city. Climate and comfort were not what Tsar Peter the Great had in mind when he decided to build a new capital in the muddy marshes of the Neva River delta. Located 500 miles below the Arctic Circle, this area, with its foul weather, bad water and sodden soil, was so unattractive that only a handful of Finnish fisherman had ever settled there. Yet to the Tsar the place he named Sankt Pieter Burkh had the makings of a paradise. His vision was soon borne out: though St. Petersburg was closer to London, Paris and Vienna than to Russian's far-off eastern lands, it quickly became the political, cultural and economic centre of an empire that stretched across more than a dozen time zones and over three continents.In this book, revolutionaries and labourers brush shoulders with tsars and builders, soldiers and statesmen share pride of place with poets. For only the entire historical experience of this magnificent and mysterious city can reveal the wealth of human and natural forces that shaped the modern history of the city and the nation it represents.

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About the Author

W. Bruce Lincoln was the Distinguished Professor of Russian History at Northern Illinois University. He was the author of Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of a Thousand Years of Artistic Life in Russia and almost a dozen other books. W. Bruce Lincoln died on April 9, 2000 at the age of 61.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780465083237: Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0465083234 ISBN 13:  9780465083237
Publisher: Basic Books, 2001
Hardcover