Saving Stalin's Imperial City is the history of the successes and failures in historic preservation and of Leningraders' determination to honor the memory of the terrible siege the city had endured during World War II. The book stresses the counterintuitive nature of Stalinist policies, which allocated scarce wartime resources to save historic monuments of the tsarist and imperial past even as the very existence of the Soviet state was being threatened, and again after the war, when housing, hospitals, and schools needed to be rebuilt. Postwar Leningrad was at the forefront of a concerted restoration effort, fueled by commemorations that glorified the city's wartime experience, encouraged civic pride, and mobilized residents to rebuild their hometown. For Leningrad, the restoration of monuments and commemorations of the siege were intimately intertwined, served similar purposes, and were mutually reinforcing.

About the Author

Steven Maddox is Assistant Professor of History at Canisius College.

Reviews

Maddox's rich and lucid study makes multiple contributions. It provides a history of the figures, institutions, and policies driving Soviet preservationism. It also offers a new perspective on Stalinism by suggesting that the rehabilitation of patriotism and of the Russian past in the mid-1930s had roots in earlier efforts to protect tsarist architecture. . . . In addition, he traces the relationship between historic preservation and commemoration in the USSR.

* The Russian Review *

Based on extensive archival research, Steven Maddox's book makes use of formerly unread sources to elucidate the dramatic case of the preservation of Leningrad's historical sites shortly before, during, and aft er World War II.

* Slavic Review *

This book will make an excellent addition to even basic university libraries and will be of interest to anyone working on memory, museums, or preservation work in Russian and East European culture.

* American Historical Review *

In a meticulously researched and fluently written book Maddox succeeds in explaining how and why a war-ravaged city suffering acute shortages invested its scant resources in protecting and reconstructing monuments. . . . Maddox's fine study deserves to be widely read. Historians interested in Leningrad/St Petersburg, late Stalinism, the blockade and historic preservation, as well as those familiar with the city's architectural treasures, will find much of value here. Students less familiar with the city, and even first-time visitors, will also find their understanding of its historic urban fabric enhanced by reading this book.

* Slavonic and East European Review *

Maddox's well-researched book is a most welcome addition to the historiography of Europe's bombed cities and their reconstruction after World War II.

* JOURNAL OF MODERN HISTORY *

Steven Maddox's study of the shifting rationale, under Stalin, for the preservation and restoration of Leningrad's imperial monuments in the interwar period, and for restoration and commemoration in the early post-World War Two years, contributes to the growing body of research on the siege of Leningrad and the city's relationship to the Soviet government and ideology. The analysis is well documented, based on extensive archival and other sources, and follows deliberations surrounding preservation and restoration projects as well as accounts of work schedules and accomplishments or delays.

* Canadian Slavonic Papers *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253014849
Author Steven M. Maddox
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 553g