In this class, author and former history teacher Roger A. Smith will discuss the history of St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Tsar’s Winter Palace. The Tsar’s Winter Palace was built on a grand scale to awe visiting dignitaries. Housing the Tsar, his family, more than 3,000 nobles, bureaucrats, servants, and guards, it could have been called the greatest home court advantage of the early nineteenth century. However, it burned to the ground in December of 1837. Roger will place the creation of St. Petersburg in a historical perspective and describe in detail the fiery end to the Winter Palace, as well as its phoenix-like resurrection. The burning of the Tsar’s Winter Palace is the climactic scene in The Coachman, which is Book 2 of Roger Smith’s 9-book series of historical novels: Rian Krieger’s Journey.

Presented by the Friends of Snow Library. To register or for more information, visit https://friendsofsnowlibrary.org/lifetime-learning-program/.