Leather-bound gift book "Royal amusements and everyday life for 300 years"

The gift edition of "Royal Amusements and everyday life for 300 years: historical essays" combines two unique books by Andrei Efimovich Zarin: "Royal amusements and Amusements for 300 years" and "Favorite haunts of Russian sovereigns". The author tells in detail and with the involvement of a large documentary material about the life of the royal families, their amusements and traditions, drawing vivid historical portraits.

The reader will be fascinated by the story of balls and masquerades, Peter's assemblies and "Hermitage meetings", secular gambling and how church holidays and events took place: water consecration, cave action, etc., about the varieties of royal hunting, the emergence of the Russian theater, famous buffoons and actors, as well as about the preferences of each sovereign for one or the other for a different kind of entertainment, for one kind of fun or another. So, Alexey Mikhailovich was especially fond of falconry, Peter the Great — chess, Anna Ioannovna — target shooting, Elizabeth Petrovna — theater, and Catherine the Great — masquerades.

Peter the Great took special measures to expand the range of interests and culture of the Russian aristocracy. He issued orders on assemblies, a new form of leisure for the nobility. Music and dancing were an integral part of the assemblies. The presence of women was important in this form of leisure — Peter the Great ordered the nobles to appear with their wives and daughters. Peter the Great carefully ensured that the nobles did not "shirk" the holidays. Noble leisure has become truly family-oriented, and not exclusively male. At this time, noble clubs appeared, amateur creative activities were born (painting, theater organization, performing secular music, etc.), collecting, charitable activities.

The reader will take a fascinating historical tour of the residences of the tsars and emperors of Russia (as the author saw them at the beginning of the XX century) — fabulous royal towers, bizarre and amazing parks and palaces, majestic royal residences built in the style of Russian classicism and Empire style, as well as learn about the history of their construction and architectural features.

Russian Russian portraits of tsars and emperors, genre paintings by great Russian and European masters complete the fascinating story.