A Traveller's Companion to St. Petersburg

by Laurence Kelly

Large as life impressions of the noble Tsarist city A vivid selection from biographies, novels, letters, poems, diaries, and memoirs traces the story of St. Petersburg from earliest times. Through these pieces, we can observe the city’s foundation by Peter the Great on the marshy shores of the gulf of Finland, see how literature and the other arts flowered so strongly during the nineteenth century, and observe the often violent turning points of its later history. First hand accounts tell of the 1825 Decembrists standing in the snow in Senate Square, refusing to accept Nicholas I as Tsar, being shot down where they stood; of the imprisonment of Dostoevksy and the duel that killed Pushkin; of the last moments of the mad Emperor Paul, confronting his assassins barefoot in a cotton nightcap; of the storming of the Winter Palace by the crowd in 1917. Many more historic scenes are witnessed by such diverse characters as Tolstoy, Catherine the Great, and a voluble maidservant of Irish descent. Designed for on-the-spot use by visitors to the city, and as a highly readable anthology for the armchair traveller, this imaginative guide includes maps, engravings, and notes on history, art, architecture, and everyday city life.

Genres: History, Travel

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[SAFS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of diary excerpts and correspondence from travelers and locals in St. Petersburg who witnessed key events in the city’s history from the very foundation of St. Petersburg to the last tsar.

It’s worth a read if you’d like to know what witnesses thought and experienced with regards to events such as Catherine the Great’s collecting of art for the Hermitage and ballet performances in the Hermitage Theater, what really happened to Paul on the night he was murdered as well as court dress, presents, eating habits and much more.

[David Bisset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers the city until 1917

The book is not recent, but that is no problems as the well chosen excerpts are written by eye-witnesses. I found these contemporary accounts fascinating and revelatory. What a city, what a history! If you have never been, make a visit!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected but still enjoyable read.