“An erudite and surprising study of what Soviet-era buildings said about the beliefs and hopes of the citizens. . . A wonderfully accessible, compelling guide to these Eastern European cities. —Kirkus Reviews
"Owen Hatherleys eye is so acute, his architectural expertise so lightly deployed, his sympathies so wide and generous, that reading it is like a tour of a whole world of unsuspected curiosities and richnesses conducted by a guide whose wit is as refreshing as his knowledge is profound…I loved it, and Ill go back to it again and again." —Philip Pullman
"In the craven world of architectural criticism Hatherley is that rarest of things: a brave, incisive, elegant and erudite writer, whose books dissect the contemporary built environment to reveal the political fantasies and social realities it embodies." —Will Self
"Hatherley has a wonderful eye for buildings and space, a good grasp of the history that spawned them, and a deft way of describing them...Id better take his book, big though it is, in my backpack next time I go to Warsaw, Lviv, Bucharest or elsewhere in the old Soviet empire. I might even throw out Sytin and take it to Moscow." —London Review of Books
"[ Hatherley's] grasp of twentieth century social and cultural history is impressive, and he has created a witty, intimate and insightful book." —Sunday Times (London)
"Owen Hatherley goes in search of socialism via an epic and insightful study of Eastern bloc architecture." —The Guardian
“Hatherley takes us on an extraordinary tour of architecture in what could loosely be called the ex-Iron Curtain countries." —The Independent
