A fortified complex covering 70 acres at the heart of Moscow, the Kremlin's story is the story of Russia. Its origins lie in an 11th-century wooden guard tower, and it has been built, burnt, besieged and rebuilt through to the current stone and brick complex which houses everything from Russia's seat of political power to glittering churches. This superbly illustrated book follows the Kremlin's tumultuous history through rises and falls to the present day. It rose to prominence as a symbol of the rising principality first of Muscovy and then of the Romanov imperial state until superseded by its new-built rival St Petersburg in the 18th century. The revolutionary Soviet regime again made it the centre of the state, a role it still plays in Vladimir Putin's new Russia. It has been razed by Mongols, mined by Napoleon, and battered by Nazi bombers and through to the 21st century the Kremlin is still at the heart of the Russian security state. Book jacket.