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.

Gisele Marie, a Muslim woman and professional heavy metal musician, holds her Gibson Flying V electric guitar as walks down stairs at the end of a fund raising concert for the Syrian refugees in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro November 8, 2015. Based in Sao Paulo, Marie, 42, is the granddaughter of German Catholics, and converted to Islam several months after her father passed away in 2009. Marie, who wears the burka, has been fronting her brothers' heavy metal band "Spectrus" since 2012. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

American actress Bella Thorne claims she’s earned a staggering $2million during her first week as a creator on paid subscription service OnlyFans. The 22-year-old actress announced she’d joined the platform earlier this August 2020 with a sеxy, bikini-filled video. (Photo by Instagram/The Sun)

Anne Leanzo, of Virginia, plays Ash from the Evil Dead movie and her daughter Gina, 15, plays Lilith from the Borderlands video game during Comic-Con 2017 in San Diego, California, July 22, 2017. (Photo by Bill Wechter/AFP Photo)

Miniature food cook Burcu Celenoglu Aydin prepares a dish at her mini kitchen in Istanbul, Turkey April 7, 2018. Social marketing coordinator Burcu Celenoglu Aydin and her husband videographer Anil Aydin cook renowned dishes of Turkish cuisine in tiny measures and upload the videos on social media. (Photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters)

In this image released on September 23, Madonna's daughter Lourdes “Lola” Leon is seen during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 presented by Amazon Prime Video at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on September 24, 2021. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

In this image released on October 1, Russian model Irina Shayk is seen onstage during Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 presented by Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California; and broadcast on October 2, 2020. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 2 Presented by Amazon Prime Video)

Vogue dancer Xiong Daiki, 22, takes a video of his team to promote vogue dancing, almost a year after the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on December 15, 2020. During lockdown, Daiki, his students and friends practiced at home in their bedrooms, staying in touch by sharing videos of new dance routines. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)