Skip to main content
Support

The Kennan Institute is pleased to announce the appearance of Chita: Architectural Heritage in Photographs, volume seven in the "Discovering Russia" series, published in Moscow by "Tri Kvadrata" publishers with the support of the Kennan Institute. This book is devoted to the architectural and historical heritage of Chita and Nerchinsk, two of the most important Russian settlements in the Trans-Baikal territory of Dauria. The text and photographs are by William Craft Brumfield, a leading Western specialist on the history of Russian architecture, professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University (New Orleans), and honorary fellow of two Russian national academies: the Academy of the Arts and the Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences.

The volume begins with the author's extensive Russian text on the history and architecture of Chita, Nerchinsk, and surrounding areas, including the Buriat Buddhist monasteries of the Aginsk region. In addition to a selection of the author's color photographs, the text section also includes five early 20th century postcard views of Chita, as well as two engravings from sketches by George Frost, who accompanied George Kennan on his trip to Nerchinsk and Chita in 1885. The book's two archival maps (frontispiece and text section) include Semion Remezov's early 18th century "Map of the Lands of Nerchinsk," covering territory from Lake Baikal to Japan.

The main section of the book contains black-and-white images of architectural and historical monuments photographed by Brumfield during his trips throughout Chita oblast. The negatives for these photographs are preserved in the William Brumfield Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The photograph captions are in English and Russian, and include the date of each photograph. The volume concludes with an English summary of the text.

This publication continues the "Discovering Russia" series of books dedicated to the historic regions of Russia and their architecture. The series, which includes Brumfield's previous books on Tot'ma, Irkutsk,Tobol'sk, Solikamsk, Cherdyn' and Kargopol' is intended for those interested in architecture, history, photography and regional studies.

ISBN: 978-5-94607-095-8

Tagged

About the Author

William Craft Brumfield

Professor of Slavic Languages and Germanic Languages, Tulane University
Read More

Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more