Pavlovsk: The Life of a Russian Palace

by Suzanne Massie

Book Overview

Suzanne Massie uses the history of this magnificent palace as a lens to look deeply into the soul of successive periods revealing the heights of hope and the depths of horror in the larger than life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316549703
• ISBN13: 9780316549707
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 394 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Read!

If you have any genuine interest in Russian History, this is a great book for you! It really pulls you into the setting, and you feel a true connection to the Palace and the people who lived there.. and who saved it from ruin. A fascinating look at a Palace during different periods of history. This is one of my favorite books.. and I read a lot! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

A Wonderful Book...

This is a book about a Russian palace, Pavlovsk, a classically beautiful building which was designed by Charles Cameron and furnished by Maria Feodorova, the daughter-in-law of Catherine the Great. The palace managed to escape the uncertain taste of descendants and the Revolutionary commissars to somehow remain intact. Then came the Second World War. The Nazis occupied the palace, stripped it to the walls and set it on fire. It was reduced to smouldering shell. A devoted band of Russians devoted their lives to restoring the palace to its former glory. Their work is like a detective story as they trace looted furnishings and use old blue-prints and photos to rebuild. Rebuild they did, and the palace is now open to the public. A heroic story, though not in the conventional sense.