Description
Moscow
Book Summary
This book recovers a unique and forgotten testimony: the gaze of a Parisian traveler arriving by train in a mythical city that no longer exists. Armand Silvestre describes with precision and emotion the golden Moscow of the domes, the city lost in the East that dazzled generations. An intimate and attentive account that constitutes, for the contemporary reader, the final photograph of a metropolis almost entirely destroyed by seven decades of the Soviet regime. A cult work for lovers of travel literature and urban history.
What is it about?
Armand Silvestre, a Parisian tourist at the end of the 19th century, undertakes a train journey to a city that Western imagination has turned into a legend: Moscow, the Holy, the city lost in the East. Through these pages, the author unfolds a precise and detailed testimony of the Russian capital before the radical transformation imposed by the Soviet regime. He describes the dozens of golden domes shining from the top of the Sparrow Hills, the streets, the markets, and the daily life of a city that will soon cease to exist as he knows it. The book is, therefore, a portrait of a mythical city at its twilight and the chronicle of a journey that can no longer be repeated.
Main themes
- Pre-revolutionary Moscow as a sacred city and symbol of the East.
- Travel as a historical testimony of a vanished world.
- The Western traveler's perspective on exoticism and cultural difference.
- Urban transformation and the destruction of heritage under the Soviet regime.
- Travel literature as a document of an era.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers passionate about classic travel literature, Russian history, and the evolution of great cities. It will also interest those looking for first-hand accounts of life in pre-revolutionary Moscow, as well as collectors of cult works recovered from editorial oblivion.
What this book offers
- A unique and unpublished testimony of the golden Moscow before the 20th century.
- The opportunity to rediscover a cult literary work that has never been reprinted since its first publication.
- A reading experience that combines the pleasure of travel narrative with the value of historical documentation.
- An intimate and detailed perspective of a city that time and politics completely transformed.
Technical Specifications
- Author: SILVESTRE, ARMAND
- Publisher: CONFLUENCIAS
- Language: Spanish
- Topic: TRAVEL LITERATURE
- Collection: CITIES AND MEN
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: October 2019
- Number of pages: 132
- Weight: 125 g
Editorial Review
This edition recovers a text of great literary and historical value, offering the reader the opportunity to access a lost perspective on a mythical city. Silvestre's prose, precise and evocative, turns a train journey into an almost archaeological experience. A brief but intense work, ideal for those looking for something more than a tourist guide: a testimony of a world that no longer exists.