"It is lost world, a world of art and politics, love and nature, of lavish displays of wealth and intimate family gatherings destroyed utterly by the Bolsheviks, and brought back to life in this beautiful, fascinating book". -- Andrew Coyne, Toronto Globe and Mail

"In this illustrated history, Roosevelt examines three manifestations of this 'self-contained world': aristocratic playground, patriarchal enclave, and cultural arcadia. The book maps the hierarchies and allegiances that shaped Russian estates large and small". -- Washington Post Book World

"A piece of graceful erudition, faultless in its vivid prose and evocative illustrations recalling the playfulness as well as the melancholy of the Russian pastoral scene". -- Anne Simpson, The Herald

"One of the many virtues of Roosevelt's work is that it serves to preserve this vanished world in the reader's imagination". -- Nikolai Tolstoy, Daily Telegraph