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

by W. Bruce Lincoln

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, complex city. Climate and comfort were not what Tsar Peter the Great had in mind when, in the spring of 1703, 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. Bathed in sunlight at midnight in the summer, it brooded in darkness at noon in the winter, and its canals froze solid at least five months out of every year. 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 Russia's far-off eastern lands, it quickly became the political, cultural, and economic center of an empire that stretched across more than a dozen time zones and over three continents. In this book, revolutionaries and laborers 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 it and the nation it represents.

Genres: History, Russia, Nonfiction, Russian History, European History, Cities, Historical

419 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2001

Reviews

[Allison]

Extremely well researched and incredibly detailed. It falls prey to the classic Western Dude Russian Historian problem of gratuitous anti-Asian racism (a city torn between the civilizing force of the West and the brutal, crude, violent impulses of the Orient, blah blah blah why are you all like this), which is why I knocked off a star. And the last chapter is...well, you can skip it.

But in other respects, this was the book I needed to fill out certain gaps in my understanding of St. Petersburg. At least half the book focuses on pre-revolution Petersburg, thankfully, since so many historians seem to want to zoom ahead to 1917.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / 5.0

I REALLY LIKED THIS. VERY CLEAR FLUID MIX OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL, POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF THE CITY. TRULY A STORY OF THE CITY RATHER THAN A COLLECTION STORIES AND BIOGRAPHIES OF HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT RESIDENTS. VERY SMOOTH FLOW

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunlight at Midnight (2001), W. Bruce Lincoln's final (and unfinished upon his death) work, is a thorough, if verging on melodramatic, introduction to the art, architecture, literature, and music of St. Petersburg from its founding in 1703 to the 1980s. W. Bruce Lincoln clearly knew his history and strives admirably to integrate the history of Petersburg with the history of Russia as a whole.

Lincoln, who taught at Northern Illinois University for thirty years, obtained his doctorate in the 1960s and passed away nine years after the Soviet Union fell. Accordingly, Sunlight at Midnight reflects archaic ways of looking at Russian history and culture. There is, for instance, the claim (disproved by Alexander Poznansky and other scholars in the 1990s) that Tchaikovsky was tormented by his sexuality and committed suicide. But there is also the tendency to romanticize the so-called Russian spirit on almost every page; the preoccupation with great forces, great men, and great tides of oppressed (and generally nameless) masses; the characterization of Russia in terms of extremes (the penultimate chapter describes St. Petersburg as a "lonely, intimate, grandiose, beautiful, oppressive, romantic, ephemeral, isolationist, and apocalyptic" city). To some extent, Sunlight at Midnight exemplifies the kind of exoticization that more recent scholarship of Russia tries to avoid. It is all too easy for Westerners to fall into the trap of thinking that Raskolnikov's musings, Akhmatova's suffering, the siege, and other widely-publicized Petersburg phenomena reflect some sort of heroic, oppressed, tragic, etc., etc. "character", while dismissing the perspectives of people who do not fit the stereotype. But Lincoln is not wrong to observe that as a collective, Petersburg's artists and writers — the real protagonists of Sunlight at Midnight — were fascinated with their own city. Gogol himself famously exhorted his readers not to "believe this Nevsky Prospekt", for it was full of contradictions and deceit.

It goes without saying that visiting St. Petersburg is the best way to understand it, but understandably that may not be feasible (or desirable, given U.S.-Russia relations). For the serious Petersburg enthusiast, I would recommend Julie Buckler's Mapping St. Petersburg (2005) over Sunlight at Midnight. It is more scholarly than casual, but it avoids the exoticization that tinges Lincoln's writing and is more coherently organized (Lincoln has a tendency to leap from subject to subject without much warning). The casual reader should read Sunlight with a critical eye. I also *strongly* recommend reading the Petersburg literature that Lincoln discusses: Crime and Punishment, "The Bronze Horseman," Akhmatova's Requiem, Blok's "The Twelve," Gippius, Berggolts, etc. Though Sunlight is an apt introduction, there's really no shortcut when it comes to literature: you just have to read it yourself.

[David Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent biography of St. Petersburg, Russia begins with the city's founding in 1703 and concludes with the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union in the closing years of the 20th century. Quite a bit has changed in the city from the late '90s to 2023, but the author died in the spring of 2000, so this was published posthumously and will not see an updated edition. It's a solid work of scholarship and still quite accessible. The author focuses on St. Petersburg's place in the larger Russian landscape, its relationship to the rest of the world (primarily, western Europe), daily life for the city's residents, the changing character of urban life, the political landscape, and developments in the arts. There was a nice balance between these elements, although the author had a particular interest in dance and literature which led to some tangents that seemed out of proportion to other topics. This is a must-read for anyone visiting St. Petersburg (unlikely to happen anytime in the foreseeable future for most international tourists) or those wanting to understand more about Russian history from the perspective of one of the world's greatest cities (in my opinion, although I'm certainly biased - having lived in St. Petersburg for most of 2017).

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the subject and suitable for a reader without much prior knowledge of Russian history.

I do wish the author had figured out some other way to refer to St. Petersburg's relationship to the west; if I had to read the phrase 'window on the West' one more time, I was going to scream.

It would also have been good if the author had explained what he meant about Russia looking to the West v. the East. He made the statement several times but never explained what specifically he thought the differences were/are. Are we talking cultural, economic, political? All of the above? Something else?

[Sarah W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on the city of St. Petersburg, which also offers an interesting prism through which to view three centuries of Russian history. Founded by Tsar Peter the Great near the beginning of the 18th century, St. Petersburg was built on swampy ground, prone to flooding and fire, and constructed at a hurried pace. Despite the challenges, the city managed to grow, foster both artists and revolutionaries, hold off a Nazi siege, and persist into the modern age. An fascinating read and highly recommended for those interested in Russian history.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! Great prep for trip to Russia, esp. St. Petersburg.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never really met a Bruce Lincoln book I didn’t like. And I’m not sure I’ve read a book about St. Petersburg I didn’t like either.

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A excellent overview of Saint Petersburg's history, especially the art and literature inspired by the city, with a strong focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. The chapters about the Silver Age of Russian poetry and the Siege of Leningrad are especially well written. The eighteenth century, including the seminal reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, however, do not receive as much attention as they merit and the building of the city goes by quite quickly. Well written and insightful.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A "biography" of a city: thorough & fascinating

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I have had for a long time (over 10 years) that I had never gotten around to reading (until now). I am glad that I did. It was a good historical overview of the city of St. Petersburg (aka Petrograd and Leningrad). The author does a good job of interweaving political, military and social-economic history into the story of St. Petersburg. The city, by all rights, probably should not have been built, but leave it to an all-powerful totalitarian ruler to make it happen for Russia (Peter the Great). The swampy marshes evolved into one of the key cities for Russia. Yet, and the book attempts to define this, this major city has always been one that seeks to find its identity. Is it Western, Eastern, modern, classic? It is a question that Lincoln attempts to link not only to the city's history, but the history of Russia. The question of St Petersburg's role is still to be determined.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny story . . .this was a book I debated ordering online and ultimately decided against because while it was about St. Petersburg, only the first chapter or so would pertain to the setting of my story.

And then our basement flooded. In going through our shelves and shelves of books, I found this! Jaren must have read it for one of his Russian classes, since I hadn't read it before.

It was fascinating as as history of Russia through the lens of St. Petersburg. I'm glad I didn't purchase it for research--although I did discover what type of stones were used on the Neva's embankment--but I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

I'm pretty ready for another visit to St. Petersburg, after all this reading!

[Highjump · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love St Petersburg and have enjoyed Lincoln's work before but (typical for books published posthumously) this one was a bit uneven. It couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be a cultural history or an architectural history but it definitely succeeded more on the first count. The section on the siege, which I was especially interested in, was very good. The conclusion was a plodding retread of the book's theses and I suspect not written by Lincoln.

[Tim Burlingame · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, very readable history of St. Petersburg. The introduction reads almost like poetry. It's clear that Lincoln loved the city, and anyone who had strolled along the canals during White Nights will find themselves transported back to that moment. My only criticism is that the book bogs down towards the end, and the last 1/3 or so in a little slow.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the first few chapters felt canned, the last chapter was pointless, but almost everything in between was worth it. The sections on Catherine the Great and the seige of Leningrad were particularly good.

[GWC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compares poorly with Volkov although the chapter on the siege of Lenningrad is a masterpiece of narrative history.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew next to nothing about Russia before reading the book...a little slow in some parts, but it makes me want to visit St. Petersburg sometime!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, if a little repetitive. Makes me want to travel there someday, for sure.

[Sharyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a biography of St. Petersburg from its founding by Peter the Great in 1703 through 2000.

[Kathlyn West]

Great book filled with Russian history....all presented well. A fascinating read.

[Masha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and engaging. It didn't get boring towards the end like some historic books do

[Ashley Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine overview of Saint Petersburg-- a great thing to read before a visit. I was able to recall anecdotes from this book as I walked around the city.