The Companion Guide To St Petersburg

This new Companion Guide tells the story and describes the appearance of St Petersburg, capital of Russia for just over two hundred years and about to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of its foundation. For the first time since the last Emperor, the Head of State is a Petersburger; Vladimir Putin is driving the preparations for the centenary, with an official presidential residence being established in a former Grand Ducal Palace.

This Guide combines a physical description of the city with the history of the people who lived and died in it - emperors, politicians, revolutionaries, writers, architects, artists, dancers and ordinary citizens. The two themes are integrated: what you can see now and what has happened there. The treatment is particularly suited to a city in which almost every stone tells a story.

The Guide is also practical: it explains how to get to places and how to cope with the language; it provides a table of rulers and another which lists architects by date, style and patron; there are 'virtual reality' plans and maps for the areas covered in each chapter. One of the authors was born in the city and has visited it frequently since 1980.