A Day in St. Petersburg and a Ball at the Winter Palace in 1868 SITWELL, Sacheverell [151] pp. Faber and Faber 1944 Fourth Impression 7 5/8" x 5" Valse des Fleurs recreates one glittering winter's day in St Petersburg in its heyday. The Tsar is giving a ball, and in the run up we are given a glimpse of a lost generation of courtiers, servants, guards, officials and dignitaries later condemned to oblivion by the Russian Revolution. Though slim enough to read on the train from Moscow, Valse des Fleurs is the perfect introduction to the Imperial capital of the Tsars. It peoples the magnificent palaces - now turned into museums - with a haunting and evocative power.