St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past

Fragile, gritty, and vital to an extraordinary degree, St.Petersburg is one of the world's most alluring cities—a place inwhich the past is at once ubiquitous and inescapably controversial.Yet outsiders are far more familiar with the city's pre-1917 andSecond World War history than with its recent past.In this beautifully illustrated and highly original book,Catriona Kelly shows how creative engagement with the past hasalways been fundamental to St. Petersburg's residents. Weavingtogether oral history, personal observation, literary and artistictexts, journalism, and archival materials, she traces the at timesparadoxical feelings of anxiety and pride that were inspired byliving in the city, both when it was socialist Leningrad, and now.Ranging from rubbish dumps to promenades, from the city's glamorouscenter to its grimy outskirts, this ambitious book offers acompelling and always unexpected panorama of an extraordinary andelusive place.