Building on the Past by Rudy P. Friesen and Edith Elisabeth Friesen

Mennonite Architecture, Landscape and Settlements in Russia/Ukraine

Building on the Past is a treasure of photographs, information and new insights about the Russian Mennonite story from 1789 until today.

Expanding on the scope and detail of its popular predecessor, Into the Past: Buildings of the Mennonite Commonwealth, this book explores the architecture and landscape of numerous colonies, villages, estates, forestry camps and cities in southern Russia, now eastern Ukraine, where Mennonites once lived.

These places still tell the dramatic story of a people who emerged from modest agrarian beginnings, flowered into a proud and prosperous society, then scattered to the winds. It is a story that continues to unfold in new and surprising ways.