CONTENTS

A Short Introduction

Microcosmos: Slavutych

Part One: The Western Periphery

Forgotten Capital: Kaunas

A Guidebook of Revolutionary Relics: Kuldīga

A Tour with the City Architect: Ventspils

Nuclear Model Village: Sillamäe

The Cradle of Three Revolutions: St Petersburg

Part Two: Debatable Lands

Art and Revolution: Kyiv

Oligarchy in Rocket City: Dnipro

The End of Communism in Eastern Ukraine: Zaporizhia

Streets of Crocodiles: Chișinău

Part Three: The Centre

Where the Gauges Change: Brest

Time, Backward! Minsk

Life in the Twenty-First Century: Moscow

A Week in the Kremlin: Nizhny Novgorod

The Architecture of Sovereignty: Kazan

Constructivist Capital: Yekaterinburg

Part Four: The Eastern Periphery

Brand Georgia: Kutaisi

An Exhibition of Achievements: Tbilisi

From the Purges to Paradise: Sevan Writers Resort

Mysterious Cities of Pink and Gold: Yerevan

The Green Friends of Mankind: Almaty

A City of the Future: Astana

“Where Our Tomorrow is Already Yesterday”: Bishkek

Notes

Acknowledgements