TY - BOOK ID - 78108342 TI - St Petersburg : shadows of the past PY - 2014 SN - 0300198590 9780300198591 1306370388 9781306370387 9780300169188 0300169183 PB - New Haven, Connecticut ; London : Yale University Press, DB - UniCat KW - HISTORY / Russia & the Former Soviet Union. KW - Saint Petersburg (Russia) KW - Description and travel. KW - History. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78108342 AB - Fragile, gritty, and vital to an extraordinary degree, St. Petersburg is one of the world's most alluring cities-a place in which the past is at once ubiquitous and inescapably controversial. Yet outsiders are far more familiar with the city's pre-1917 and Second 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 has always been fundamental to St. Petersburg's residents. Weaving together oral history, personal observation, literary and artistic texts, journalism, and archival materials, she traces the at times paradoxical feelings of anxiety and pride that were inspired by living in the city, both when it was socialist Leningrad, and now. Ranging from rubbish dumps to promenades, from the city's glamorous center to its grimy outskirts, this ambitious book offers a compelling and always unexpected panorama of an extraordinary and elusive place. ER -