"This is the first book to show the development of Russian architecture over the past thousand years as a part of the history of Western architecture. Dmitry Shvidkovsky, Russia's leading architectural historian, departs from the accepted notion that Russian architecture developed independently of outside cultural influences and demonstrates that, on the contrary, the influence of the West extends back to the tenth century and continues into the present. He offers compelling assessments of all the main masterpieces of Russian architecture and frames a radically new architectural history for Russia."--Jacket.