While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

Long shadows are cast by players as Mitch Wallis of the Bulldogs passes the ball during the 2016 AFL Round 08 match between the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on May 15, 2016. (Photo by Scott Barbour/AFL Media/Getty Images)

A woman wades through a flooded village in the eastern state of Bihar, India August 22, 2017. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Workers carry sacks of tea leaves at a tea estate in Nagaon district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, August 22, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Revellers celebrate “Ash Monday” by participating in a colourful “flour war”, a traditional festivity marking the end of the carnival season and the start of the 40-day Lent period until the Orthodox Easter,in the port town of Galaxidi, Greece, February 27, 2017. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

Model Ashley Graham is seen walking in Soho on May 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Model Bella Hadid presents a creation by designer Jean Paul Gaultier as part of his Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 collection show in Paris, France, January 22, 2020. Picture taken January 22, 2020. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

A house along Hoover Beach is covered by ice from high winds and from the waves from Lake Erie, Saturday, February 29, 2020, in Hamburg N.Y. Blowing snow has fallen around the state since Thursday, though the heaviest snowfall was concentrated in largely rural areas east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. (Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP Photo)