Places of Tenderness and Heat: The Queer Milieu of Fin-de-Siècle St. Petersburg by Olga Petri (review).

Olga Petri's book, "Places of Tenderness and Heat: The Queer Milieu of Fin-de-Siècle St. Petersburg," explores the queer historical geography of pre-revolutionary Russia. Petri examines the engagement of queer men with urban spaces and the negotiation between authorities and those who desired queer sex. The book draws upon an archive of sources, including policing records, local administration documents, sanitation reports, and journalism, as well as extracts from the diary of queer novelist and composer Mikhail Kuzmin. Petri argues that the urban geography of St. Petersburg, along with the city's attempts to modernize and discipline its spaces, played a significant role in shaping a queer milieu. While the book offers valuable insights, it misses opportunities for engagement with existing historical scholarship. [Extracted from the article]