Races to Modernity

"...this work is a convincing read that greatly adds to our understanding of urban developments in semi-peripheral regions." * European History Quarterly *
"The 'race to modernity,' as the editors of this excellent collection of case studies put it, was frequently an effort to catch up, to overcome the apparent backwardness of their situation in a rapidly changing global climate, and to become, in the parlance of the day, more 'European.' But, as Jan Behrends and Martin Kohlrausch also argue, the experience of modernity was by no means unilinear and nor were the conditions in which these cities modernized the same. The cities described in this volume, which range from Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Moscow, Wilno, Warsaw, and Kyiv in the north to Zagreb, Belgrade, Sofia, and Athens in the south, exhibited alternate manifestations of modernity, from suspicion and botched planning to various creative strategies that took advantage of their peripheral position." * Slavic Review *
"Die Lektüre des Bandes „Races to Modernity" ist sehr zu empfehlen, möchte man sich über architektonisch-urbanistische Praxis, Symbolpolitik und den Modernediskurs im Zuge der Staatenbildung in den jeweiligen Ländern – oder, ja, in der Region östlich eines wie auch immer einzugrenzenden Westens – informieren. Die sehr umfangreich und sorgfältig recherchierten Beiträge dienen als guter Ausgangspunkt für weitere Recherchen. Darüber hinaus ist der Band anschaulich illustriert und ansprechend gestaltet. Das insgesamt hohe Niveau der einzelnen Beiträge und die vielen Ausschläge nach oben lassen dann auch einige etwas schwächere Teile nicht ins Gewicht fallen und schmälern den großen Mehrwert keineswegs." * Polenstudien. Interdisziplinär Fachinformation und internationaler Austausch *
"The title of this collection accurately reflects the book's overarching emphasis: modernity as a goal for Eastern European cities, and for many of these cities, the race to develop a modern city, often a capital city. Following an excellent introduction by the editors, the essays divide into three parts. The first examines urban development to reveal the national aspirations and social turmoil of pre- and post-imperial Moscow, Kiev, Wilno, and Petersburg. The second examines Athens, Belgrade, Sofia, and Warsaw as new capital cities attempting to reflect the modern idea of centralized control over their new nations. Kaunas, Talinn, Riga, Helsinki, and Zagreb provide the background for essays that actively question the meaning of modernity in the urban capitals of the East. The authors' use of modernity as a cohesive theme is commendable. Modernity, however, has many different meanings, as revealed in the essays themselves. While all of the essays are in American English, most of the sources are (quite naturally) in a variety of languages. Summing up: Highly recommended" * Choice *