Along the way he offers lively summaries of some of the key dramas of Russian history, including the exploration of Siberia, the tragic nobility of the Decembrists and the unspeakable siege of Leningrad.

ECONOMIST: Russia

The festival survived both the terrible three-year Siege of Leningrad during WWII and the restrictions of the Soviet era that ended in 1991, rebounding to include concerts, dances, fireworks, a sailing fleet, jazz performances, street parties and more.

BBC: Living in: St Petersburg

At the same time, Snyder also asks us to extend our circles of compassion, making us see that the child dying in the gas chamber was no different from the one being starved to death in the siege of Leningrad, or that the fate of the zek in the Gulag was not very different from that of the Russian prisoner in a German lager.

NEWYORKER: Faces, Places, Spaces