St. Petersburg

by Miles, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9781643131566
• ISBN10: 1643131567
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-05-14
• Publisher: Pegasus Books

Summary

Established in 1703 by the sheer will of its charismatic founder, the homicidal megalomaniac Peter the Great, St. Petersburg's dazzling yet unhinged reputation was quickly cemented 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 to Europe and the Enlightenment, but so much of Russia’s unique glory was also 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 St. Petersburg, Jonathan Miles recreates the drama of three hundred years in this paradoxical and brilliant city, bringing us up to the present day, when its fate hangs in the balance once more.

Author Biography

Cultural historian Jonathan Miles was born in a trunk and has been traveling ever since. He received his doctorate from Jesus College, Oxford University, and his written biographies of British artists Eric Gill and David Jones. He is the author of The Wreck of the Medusa and The Nine Lives of Otto Katz. He lives in Paris.