ASIN: B071LKWP3Z
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Pages: 64
*Includes pictures*Includes contemporary accounts of the buildings and the art collections*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.” – Ivan Turgenev, 19th century Russian novelistMany believed that the “Tsardom of All the Russias,” which originated with the rather aptly named Ivan the Terrible, had contributed to the deceleration of the nation's progress. They fared no better in the eyes of the major powers of Europe at the time, who openly dismissed them as “barbarians” that ran a “backwards” society. It was clear that Russia was hopelessly stuck in a dark ages of sorts. That was, until a new wave of monarchs, mainly Peter the Great and Empress Catherine II, reeled the country out of the dark and troubled waters of societal and cultural ...
