Pushkin's Era: The Prelude. The 18th Century

Sergey Surin is a St. Petersburg literary scholar, writer, composer, author of the books "Alexander Pushkin: The Close Era", "Alexander Pushkin: Rest and Freedom", author of the YouTube channel and community on VKontakte "Lectures by Sergey Surin", the text project "One Day of Alexander Sergeyevich", lecture-performances with classical and jazz musicians "Pushkin's Puzzle", the lecture project "The Phenomenon of the Pushkin Era", brain rings for high school students "Non-Textbook Pushkin", "Non-Textbook Lermontov", "Non-Textbook Griboedov".
This book is 21 essays from the history of Russian culture of the 18th century (or a bit broader - from the era of Alexei Mikhailovich to the beginning of the reign of Alexander I) - an exciting journey into the past of our Motherland. Simply, vividly, and dynamically, it tells about the people who shaped the Russian literary language, the first extravagant political figures, selfless bibliophiles, amazing patrons, the first independent Russian beauties, and the grand scandals associated with them. The Russian theater was born, Russian poetry and artistic thought emerged, printing began, and the confrontation between kings and opposition arose. In the book, you will find stories not only about well-known personalities such as Mikhail Lomonosov, Gavriil Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin, and Alexander Radishchev, but also about those who have unjustly fallen into the background of our memory. The book helps to understand how the culture of the 18th century shaped our national identity, how it prepared for the subsequent Pushkin era, and what impact it left on the history of Russia.