Malena, 7, looks at Belgian clown Lili Bellule at the pediatric department of the Hopital Erasme at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), in Brussels January 27, 2015. The hospital offers performances by musicians and clowns as a form of therapy to help children cope with dealing with the stress and fear caused by hospitalization. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A man watches Israeli Air Force planes fly over the Mediterranean Sea from a beach at Tel Aviv during an aerial show as part of celebrations for Israel's Independence Day to mark the 66th anniversary of the creation of the state, May 6, 2014. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

A campaign model demonstrates crazy eyes glasses during the International Tokyo Toy Show 2016 in Tokyo, Japan, 09 June 2016. The trade show opens to the general public on 11 and 12 June. (Photo by Christopher Jue/EPA)

Fifth Harmony accept the most buzzworthy international artist or group award during the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 19, 2016. (Photo by Fred Thornhill/Reuters)

Jeison Rodriguez (L), 19, the living person with the largest feet in the world, poses for a picture with his older brother Wilmer, 24, outside their house in Maracay, Venezuela, October 14, 2015. Rodriguez, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest feet, with 40.1 cm (1 ft 3.79 in) on the right foot and 39.6 cm (1 ft 3.59 in) on the left foot. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

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.

Actor Cornelius Obonya as Jedermann and actress Brigitte Hobmeier as Buhlschaft perform on stage during a dress rehearsal of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's drama “Jedermann” (Everyman) at Domplatz square in Salzburg, Austria, July 16, 2015. The play is directed by Julian Crouch and Brian Mertes and will premiere as part of the annual Salzburg cultural Festival on July 19, 2015. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

Figurines of former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Strelkov from the collection entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” are on display at a workshop in Moscow August 29, 2014. A Moscow-based maker of toy soldiers has sought inspiration for his creations from Ukrainian rebels fighting government troops in the east of Ukraine. Toy soldier maker, Timur Zamilov, displayed his new collection of rebel fighters cast in metal on Friday, before they are due to go on sale. His new collection is entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” (New Russia), a reference to regions in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatist fighters want full independence. Zamilov's selection includes models of Cossack soldiers, volunteers, soldiers bearing anti-aircraft missiles and even a miniature of prominent rebel leader Igor Strelkov. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)