The most luxurious cathedral. Laughing culture of tsarist Russia

In this book, the historian and culturologist Lev Berdnikov talks about the phenomenon of Russian jokes. The gallery of the characters is opened by “Bloody buffoon” Ivan the Terrible, the first to guessed to use laughter as an instrument to combat objectionable and dissenters. Particular attention is paid to the XVIII century-the author introduces the reader to the history of the creation of Peter I legendary all-food cathedral and the whole galaxy of crowned soldiers from the jester of Balakirev and kvasnik-durak to Jan Lacosta and the Bendal-loving Pedrillo, the favorite of the Empress Anna Ioannovna.
In the book are also presented in the book The Russian witnesses of the XVIII - XIX centuries, and the charismatic historical figures (Grigory Potemkin, Alexei Ermolov), as well as our domestic Munchausen, masters, tell amazing stories are also in this unexpected perspective. Separate chapters are devoted to “jesters from literature” - conceited and mediocre writers, who have become parody personalities in Russian culture and riding objects among brothers in Peru