“These buildings and these books, these expats and their expectations, all had an impact. The influence of France turned the theories of the French Enlightenment into something more than just ideas in Russia - they became physical. They became revolution. And at the heart of that revolution lay philosophies about the freedom of the individual, one where the imperial shackles of social, political and religious dogma were seen clearly and where the call for them to be shaken off was heard loudly.”