"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 Hatherley's 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 I'll 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.I'd 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.