St Petersburg

Bestselling historian Sinclair McKay tells the story of the city of St Petersburg from the perspective of the people who have lived there.

About the event

Built by slave labour in the early 18th century, St Petersburg started out as Peter the Great’s so-called ‘window on to Europe’, a city that would outdo all its European rivals in splendour. At the same time, it has always drawn Westerners seeking a window into Russia.

It is a city with many claims to fame: a home of the tsars, the focal point of the Russian Revolution, the scene of the longest siege of the Second World War, and the birthplace of Vladimir Putin.

Drawing on first-hand accounts, many of them unpublished, Sinclair McKay reveals the central importance of St Petersburg over the centuries.

About the speaker

Sinclair McKay is the ‘Sunday Times’ bestselling author of several works, including ‘Berlin’, ‘Meeting Churchill’, ‘Dresden’, ‘The Secret Life of Bletchley Park’ and ‘The Secret Listeners’. He is a literary critic for ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘The Spectator’.