Socialist Churches: Radical Secularization and the Preservation of the Past in Petrograd and Leningrad, 1918-1988 (NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies)

Product description Review Bringing together a wide range of sources and the author's intimate knowledge of St. Petersburg history, this study is a pleasure to read and can form an excellent bridge for specialists in twentieth-century cultural, urban, and religious history who wish to understand how Soviet Russia fits into transnational trends.-- "American Historical Review"Catriona Kelly, a recognized expert on St. Petersburg, has written an insightful and well-contextualized study of the diverse fortunes of the churches of this city during the Soviet period. Having scoured the archives and mastered the secondary sources, she has also provided a very rich bibliography as well as notes that reward reading.-- "Journal of Church and State"Having confiscated all the wealth of the church against which radicals raged for decades, the socialist regime begun by Lenin had to figure out what to do with buildings that had thereby become 'socialist churches.' This is the quandary that is splendidly explored in this groundbreaking study: what to do with all these liturgical structuresKelly clearly outlines the balancing act that officials undertook between state atheism and religious freedom, including employing inaction that achieved secularist goals through lack of financial support for repair. The work effectively challenges the assumption that Soviet Russia was entirely hostile to religious belief and practice.-- "Publishers Weekly"One of the major strengths of Kelly's book is in this chronological scope, which allows her to narrate an entire history of the Soviet project to eradicate religion and the contradictory process that stemmed from this effort. Kelly's story is remarkably researched, packed full of insights, and highly readable.-- "Journal of Modern History"The book illuminates a neglected aspect of the history of a city and its life, and of the religious communities that sought to survive under an uncongenial regime.-- "Slavonic and East European Review" About the Author Catriona Kelly is professor of Russian at the University of Oxford and a fellow of New College. She has written widely on Russian cultural history, including St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past. Catriona Kelly is professor of Russian at the University of Oxford and a fellow of New College. She has written widely on Russian cultural history, including St Petersburg.