St. Petersburg was commanded into existence by Peter the Great, and its inherent artifice has made it one of the world's most storied cities, the stage for political and artistic dreamers. This comprehensive, award-winning narrative history chronicles what is perhaps the greatest story of any modern city anywhere, from its foundation in a swampy war zone in 1703 to its leading role in overthrowing Soviet power and bringing Russia into the twenty-first century. As the author notes, 'No modern city has experienced such excruciating upheavals, violence, losses of its people, and suffering as Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad experienced in the first half of its 20th century.' Extensively researched and documented yet entertaining and accessible for general readers, the book covers Petersburg's political, social, economic, architectural, cultural and intellectual history, recounting events of world importance, and the extraordinary and often tragic lives of the city's many great citizens such as Catherine the Great, Fedor Dostoevsky, the poets Alexander Pushkin and Anna Akhmatova, and the city's late mayor Anatoly Sobchak. The book focuses on the city's key role as a link to the West and in modernizing Russia and encouraging the growth of civil society, and brings to life a St Petersburg steeped in a tumult of war, revolution and aesthetics. In December 2005 in Russia, the book was awarded the prestigious Antsiferov Prize for the best book by a foreign author about St. Petersburg.