The Soviet Union Today: An Interpretive Guide

In this very well written and argued book, James Cracraft examines sweeping changes in Russian architecture in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The author concentrates not only on the architectural reform, which "had proved irreversible" on architectural reforms, but also on historical and cultural processes of the time in Russia and Europe. Furthermore, "The Petrine Revolution in Russian Architecture" deals not only with the Petrine reform and the new city of St. Petersburg, but also goes beyond that dealing with architectural trends in Muscovite Russia, that preceded the reforms. One of the important questions that Cracraft raises is whether there were any tendencies in Russian architecture of the second half of the 17th century that could possibly cause similar architectural change without Tsar Peter's sometimes violent reformist interventions. Interested with that highly controversial question, the author provides an excellent critique of works by various architectural historians. "The Petrine Revolution in Russian Architecture" concludes with a survey of 18th and 19th century Russian architecture, which proves irreversibility of the Peter the Great's influences.The writing is clear, scholarly, and fascinating. Numerous illustrations and figures-photographs, old drawings, designs, and maps, as well as written excerpts from contemporaries and scholars, beautifully support the text. This book will be of great interest of those interested in Russian cultural or architectural history. It will serve as a useful asset to the experts and will fascinate someone who has no prior experience with Russian architectural history, as it will produce many curiosities, which the reader will look to answer by reading other books on this topic.