Socialist Churches: Radical Secularization and the Preservation of the Past in Petrograd and Leningrad, 1918-1988

Kelly (St. Petersburg: Shadows of the Past), a professor of Russian at Oxford, impressively collates and unpacks a wealth of archival materials in this lugubrious history of religious buildings in Soviet St. Petersburg. Government officials, caught between official freedom of worship and fear of the anti-state potential of religious life, vacillated between preserving ecclesiastical buildings and demolishing or repurposing them, in either case appropriating their valuables for state coffers. Certain decades encouraged preserving buildings as monuments to Russian history and art while others experienced more radical anti-religious climates. Kelly clearly outlines the balancing act that officials undertook between state atheism and religious freedom, including employing inaction that achieved secularist goals through lack of financial support for repair. The work effectively challenges the assumption that Soviet Russia was entirely hostile to religious belief and practice. Although brief snippets of humor and anecdote humanize the history, these are lost in the plodding and relentless chronology of decrees and debates among officials. Kelly also does not delve much into the actual methods of preservation, leaving the discussions more abstract (though periodic photographs do illustrate her points). Scholars focusing on Soviet history, church-state relations, or the political context of preservation will find the most utility, but the work will not appeal to a wider audience. (Oct.)