≡ Descargar Free Sunlight At Midnight St Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia Bruce Lincoln 9781903985007 Books

Sunlight At Midnight St Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia Bruce Lincoln 9781903985007 Books

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Sunlight At Midnight St Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia Bruce Lincoln 9781903985007 Books

I started reading this in preparation for a trip to St. Petersburg. Having read Peter Massie's books on Peter and Catherine, I thought I had a pretty good grounding in the city's history. Did I ever have a lot to learn! Sunlight at Midnight not only digs into the details of both the building of the city and the monarchs who ordered its construction and various transformations, but it discusses the architects who designed it and what shaped their visions. More than that, Lincoln tells the story of the intellectual and artistic culture that flourished there over the centuries of the Romanov rule and afterwards and of the masses of poor working people who made the city operate. A large section of the book deals with the Communist Revolution, why it was successfully launched in St. Petersburg, how the city became the laboratory for the Communist economic and social experiment, and how it so miserable failed the population that had so fervently embraced it. There is a significant section devoted to WWII and the ghastly siege of what was then Leningrad and its aftermath. Sunlight at Midnight is a scholarly work but worth every minute it takes to read!


Tags : Sunlight At Midnight: St. Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia [Bruce Lincoln] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div>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 blended with images of suffering on a monumental scale make up the historic persona of the late W. Bruce Lincoln's lavish biography of this mysterious,Bruce Lincoln,Sunlight At Midnight: St. Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia,Basic Books,1903985005,Russia,Europe - Russia & The Former Soviet Union,European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland),GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY General,HISTORY Russia & the Former Soviet Union,History,HistoryWorld,History: World,Non-Fiction,World history

Sunlight At Midnight St Petersburg And The Rise Of Modern Russia Bruce Lincoln 9781903985007 Books Reviews

Excellent book about St. Petersburg. Gave me many insights about the city and an excellent overview of Russian history. I highly recommend it to anyone about to visit the city.
This book is well written and covers the history of St Petersburg until just after ww2. Requires wading through a great deal of minute detail but is a wonderfully informative overview of the city for those motivated to learn more.
I visited St. Petersburg in Sept. and was so taken with the beauty of all the historical buildings but also the layout of the city. The visit made be curious of the city's history. Mr. Lincoln's book gives such a rich account of the royals who envisioned the city and the architects and artists who designed it and the characters and workers who actually built it. I now want to go back for an extended visit. Having read this book will help me appreciate the city and a very deep level.
Excellent book for the history of St. Petersburg but it is difficult to read because of using Russian terms and spellings. But it is worth staying with it.
All books are seen through the eyes of the author, but this author's clear support of communism and socialism neglects much of the abuse of those times.
Just finishing this excellent book about the history of St. Petersburg; how it was built, who lived there, its influence on the rest of Russia, the world wars, Stalin era and glasnost. Pitr is one of my favorite cities and it was great to get a whole book just about this amazing city.
In _Sunlight at Midnight_, historian Bruce Lincoln tells the story of Russia through the city of St. Petersburg. This works well, and in many places (like the city itself) it is both beautiful and brilliant. Unfortunately, his history is uneven. The usual cast of characters connected to this place are here Peter and Catherine the Great, Rastrelli, Quarenghi in the 18th century; Pushkin, Gogol, Faberge, Dostoevsky in the 19th; Blok, Akhmatova, Brodsky and Lermonotov in the 20th. The association of these great minds and personalities with the city breathe life in the cultural telling of the history of Russia through the story of this marvelous city.

However, as a previous reviewer has noted, the emphasis Lincoln puts on the events of the city are a bit skewed. The tremendous expense Catherine and Elizabeth invested in object d'art is interesting, as are the details of the construction of the Winter Palace and (numerous) other royal dwellings in and around the city. But to spend such an inordinate amount of time discussing this while only briefly addressing the two decades between the wars seems out of balance. Similarly, the post-war history of the city was addressed in really a cursory manner compared to the amount of detail given during its growth in the early and mid-19th century.

These criticisms aside, the history of St. Petersburg makes for a fascinating narrative of broader events in Russian history, from the failed Decembrist revolt in 1825, to the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. This is a book I would certainly recommend for those traveling to St. Petersburg, given the detail and connections between landmarks and larger events in Russia (and the Soviet Union.) I do wish Lincoln had addressed the unique - odd may be a better word - place St. Petersburg has in Russia. It is a stunningly beautiful city, and is immensely popular with Westerners it is the most "Western" of Russian cities. But it is not really Russia. This awkward truth is pointed out in various places (as the city is being built, during Napoleon's invasion, during the Terror), but I believe it warranted more consistent reminding to the reader St. Petersburg is a "window on the West" in a very real sense of Russia being locked outside of Western Europe, looking in; imitating, being influenced by, but certainly not a participant in the West - and as such, not entirely "Russian", either.

Lincoln is a wonderful writer, and his retelling of the 900 seige during World War II and descriptions of the marvelous collections of art (now in the old Winter Palace, the "Hermitage") are first rate. His love for the city is evident in the writing, and in many respects, the concept of national history told through its most influential city works as a narrative thread. Certainly worthwhile for those who are familiar with the place, or for those intending to go.
I started reading this in preparation for a trip to St. Petersburg. Having read Peter Massie's books on Peter and Catherine, I thought I had a pretty good grounding in the city's history. Did I ever have a lot to learn! Sunlight at Midnight not only digs into the details of both the building of the city and the monarchs who ordered its construction and various transformations, but it discusses the architects who designed it and what shaped their visions. More than that, Lincoln tells the story of the intellectual and artistic culture that flourished there over the centuries of the Romanov rule and afterwards and of the masses of poor working people who made the city operate. A large section of the book deals with the Communist Revolution, why it was successfully launched in St. Petersburg, how the city became the laboratory for the Communist economic and social experiment, and how it so miserable failed the population that had so fervently embraced it. There is a significant section devoted to WWII and the ghastly siege of what was then Leningrad and its aftermath. Sunlight at Midnight is a scholarly work but worth every minute it takes to read!