The oak and the larch : a forest history of Russia and its empires / Sophie Pinkham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pinkham, Sophie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Forests and forestry--Russia (Federation)--History.

Forests and forestry.

Forest ecology--Russia (Federation).

Forest ecology.

Nature in popular culture--Russia (Federation).

Nature in popular culture.

Forests in literature.

Physical Description:

xii, 286 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Forest history of Russia and its empires

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2026]

Summary:

"Russia has three times as many trees as there are stars in our galaxy. From the Baltic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the steppes of Central Asia, Russia's forests account for nearly one-fifth of the world's wooded lands. In this astonishing work of cultural and environmental history, award-winning journalist, critic, and scholar Sophie Pinkham presents the first-ever English-language exploration of this vast expanse, offering an eloquent and absorbing account of how forests have shaped Russia. Written from the ground up, The Oak and the Larch spans centuries, from medieval times to the present, and draws on literature, art, music, and original reportage. Pinkham describes the varied forests and trees that grow within Russia's borders, from the hardy Siberian larch to the majestic oaks of central Russia, and the diverse peoples who live deep in the Russian wilderness and make their living there. She analyzes the forest's role in Russia's long history of imperial conquest-including its attacks on Ukraine today-and discusses the ways the mythologies of the forest shaped Russian culture, from pre-Christian forest spirits to the great works of Russian literature, from Turgenev to Tolstoy, from Chekhov to Nabokov and beyond. By examining Russia from the forest's perspective, The Oak and the Larch offers an urgent new understanding of the nature of Russian power, and of Russia's ideas of itself"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

A Fortress in the Taiga

The Golden Horde and the Tree of Life

The Emperor's Fleet

The Edge of the Empire

Clear Glade and Murmuring Forest

Prince, Peasant, Tungus, Yakut

Tigers Listen to Water Talk

Cutting Orchards and Moving Mountains

Electricity and Resurrection

Young Oaks

Stalin and the Wood Goblin

The Tsar-Larch and the Flood

Arks and Anarchists

Militiamen

Bears, Wolves, and Archipelagoes

Last Stand on the Ugra.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781324036685

1324036680

OCLC:

1519442284