Our History of St. Petersburg, Russia - A Most Mythical City
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St. Petersburg, Russia, is one of the world's most mythical and fascinating cities with a wonderful history important for both Russia and the West. Written on the occasion of the city's 300th anniversary, our history chronicle's the city's cultural, architectural, political, economic life. We cover the city's founding by Peter the Great in 1703, the city's quick evolution into one of Europe's leading cities, the 19th century city as it was in the works of Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoyevsky, the Silver Age, the Russian Revolution, the Siege of Leningrad in WWII, and the city's renaissance in the late 20th century. We trace in particular the lives of the city's key citizens, including also Peter Tchaikovsky, Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok, Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Joseph Brodsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, its late Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, and Vladimir Putin. We focus especially on the city's role in Europeanizing Russia and as a link between Russia and Western Europe. As such, the city's story is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was originally published.
The book was published in 3 editions, pictured above: hardcover in the USA, and hardcover and paperback in the UK. The book is no longer in print but is available on Amazon and Amazon UK, and in nearly 500 libraries around the world.
The book was published in 3 editions, pictured above: hardcover in the USA, and hardcover and paperback in the UK. The book is no longer in print but is available on Amazon and Amazon UK, and in nearly 500 libraries around the world.
Praise for our Book from Russia Scholars
"Arthur George’s book is an outstanding accomplishment, in the best tradition of grand history. He has succeeded marvelously in capturing what this complex city is all about. Both well-researched and entertaining, this is the best book about St. Petersburg that I have read in a long time."
Blair Ruble, Director, Kennan Institute of Advanced Russian Studies at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.
"Arthur George does a remarkable job of weaving together a wide range of sources to tell the multi-faceted story of the city engagingly and in a way that has never been done before. He conjures up the city’s past in all it diversity, illuminating the many ways that the past lives on in the present."
Barbara Alpern Engel, Chair, Department of History, University of Colorado, Boulder
"In chronicling St. Petersburg’s first three centuries, Arthur George confidently anchors the city’s vibrant story within the larger narrative of Russian and Soviet history. This sweeping account represents an accomplished labor of love that will engage, enlighten, entertain – and provoke, in the very best sense of the word."
Donald J. Raleigh, Professor of Russian History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"Arthur George captures the exciting events, passions and brilliance of the Northern Capital’s history with the dispassionate, yet interested, hand of the true historian, in a style that his readers will find stimulating and fascinating."
Irwin Weil, Professor of Russian and Russian Literature, Northwestern University
"An astonishing accomplishment satisfying on many levels, this book is shaped by a unifying vision and rests on a broad knowledge of Russian history, written sources, and intimate personal familiarity with St. Petersburg as a living organism. Its judicious use of entertaining detail vividly recreates specific times, events, places, and personalities, while its historical analysis linking past and present is thought provoking yet balanced, and refreshingly free of emotional ballast or visionary agendas."
C. Nicholas Lee, Professor Emeritus, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Colorado, Boulder
"Arthur George’s book is an outstanding accomplishment, in the best tradition of grand history. He has succeeded marvelously in capturing what this complex city is all about. Both well-researched and entertaining, this is the best book about St. Petersburg that I have read in a long time."
Blair Ruble, Director, Kennan Institute of Advanced Russian Studies at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.
"Arthur George does a remarkable job of weaving together a wide range of sources to tell the multi-faceted story of the city engagingly and in a way that has never been done before. He conjures up the city’s past in all it diversity, illuminating the many ways that the past lives on in the present."
Barbara Alpern Engel, Chair, Department of History, University of Colorado, Boulder
"In chronicling St. Petersburg’s first three centuries, Arthur George confidently anchors the city’s vibrant story within the larger narrative of Russian and Soviet history. This sweeping account represents an accomplished labor of love that will engage, enlighten, entertain – and provoke, in the very best sense of the word."
Donald J. Raleigh, Professor of Russian History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"Arthur George captures the exciting events, passions and brilliance of the Northern Capital’s history with the dispassionate, yet interested, hand of the true historian, in a style that his readers will find stimulating and fascinating."
Irwin Weil, Professor of Russian and Russian Literature, Northwestern University
"An astonishing accomplishment satisfying on many levels, this book is shaped by a unifying vision and rests on a broad knowledge of Russian history, written sources, and intimate personal familiarity with St. Petersburg as a living organism. Its judicious use of entertaining detail vividly recreates specific times, events, places, and personalities, while its historical analysis linking past and present is thought provoking yet balanced, and refreshingly free of emotional ballast or visionary agendas."
C. Nicholas Lee, Professor Emeritus, Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Colorado, Boulder
