Metz describes learning the harrowing ABCs of “a weapons-grade jackhammer”, the “precise choreographies” of a majestic D-8 Caterpillar, and the euphoria induced whilst performing acrobatic feats of carpentry on rickety ladders.
Catherine the Great’s seizure of power remains one of the most dramatic and iconic episodes in Russian history. Oranienbaum, the grandest baroque palace complex to be built in Russia during the 18th century.