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.

How sure are you of your geographical knowledge? Buzzfeed recently put Americans’ geographical knowledge to the test with a survey in which participants had to write in countries’ names on a blank European political map. Unfortunately, they didn’t fare too well, but some of their responses are hilarious (or hilariously mis-informed). But don’t be so quick to judge Americans – when Buzzfeed posted a similar survey testing Brits’ knowledge of the 50 United States, they also came up short. On the one hand, knowing a country’s states is different from knowing independent countries, but on the other, some U.S. states are larger than some European nations, and some U.S. states have larger economies than some European nations.

Protesters clad in improvised protective gear prepare for a clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, January 20, 2014. After a night of vicious streets battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed anew Monday in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. (Photo by Evgeny Feldman/AP Photo)

Trick rider Kendel Sampson performs during the trick riding session of the RAM Rodeo in Warkworth, Ontario, on August 1, 2013. The teenage Encore Presentation Trick Riders perform daring stunts every rodeo season in towns throughout Canada. (Photo by Norm Betts/Barcroft Media)

In this photograph taken on April 1, 2015, an Indonesian resident and child walk away from an abandoned school building as Mount Sinabung erupts in Karo district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. According to authorities about 3,500 people were displaced after the February 2014 eruption of Mount Sinabung volcano and many are still living in evacuation centers as the volcano remains active. (Photo by Sutanta Aditya/AFP Photo)

The Queen Mary 2 is saluted by the HMB Endeavour, the replica of Captain James Cook's ship, on March 4, 2012 off the coast of Victoria, Australia. (Photo by James Morgan/Carnival Australia via Getty Images)

A paramedic enters an ambulance vehicle as she responds to a call received by Ambulance Station No 3 of Rostov-on-Don's Emergency Care Hospital on New Year's Day in Rostov-On-Don, Russia on January 1, 2022. (Photo by Erik Romanenko/TASS)

Henna Katarina Johansson (R) of Sweden competes with Marwa Amri of Turkey during the Wrestling Women's Freestyle 62kg 1/8 final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Chiba, Japan, Aug. 3, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)