Icon and Devotion: Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia
"Icon and Devotion" presents a historical survey in English of the making and meaning of Russian icons. The craft of icon-making is set into the context of forms of worship that emerged in the Russian Orthodox Church from the mid-17th century on. The text shows how icons have held a special place in Russian consciousness because they represented idealized images of Holy Russia, and also looks closely at a range of issues, from the sacred meanings of icon images to how and why they were made.
Incomparable villains and heroes surge through the history of medieval Russia. Ivan IV may have been dubbed the Terrible, but when he died, the Rurik dynasty that had ruled Russia for centuries came to an end. And what followed was far worse. This volume is the history of Russia's struggle through a period of weak rulers, false pretendants to the throne, foreign invasions and civil strife. Even the weather was disastrous, and famine was inevitable. War, butchery and betrayals ensued until the Romanov Dynasty took control.
The third volume of The History of Russia provides an authoritative political, intellectual, social and cultural history of the trials and triumphs of Russia and the Soviet Union during the twentieth century.
The second volume of The History of Russia covers the imperial period (1689-1917). It encompasses political, economic, social, cultural, diplomatic, and military history.
