Overview

This book explores the interconnections between climate, policy and agriculture in Russia and the former Soviet Union between 1900 and 1990. During this period there were several periods of grain and other food shortages some of which reached disaster proportions resulting in mass famine and death on an unprecedented scale. Several new sources of information not previously available as well as traditional official and other sources have been used to explore the extent to which policy and vagaries in climate conspired to affect agricultural yeilds. Were the leaders (Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev) policies sound in theory but failed in practice because of unpredictable weather? How did the Soviet peasants react to these changes? What impact did Soviet agriculture have on the overall economy of the country? These are all questions that are taken into account in this book. The book is arranged in chapters representing different time periods and the various political eras. In each the policy of the central government is discussed followed by the climate vagaries during that period. Crop yeilds are then analysed in the light of policy and climate. This is probably the first text that comprehensively brings together all of these factors from such a wide range of sources in the last century.

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9789637326103

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Reviews

The book's most important contribution is its thorough and systematic overview of climatic changes, year by year, and their impact on the performance of Russian and Soviet agriculture. Given the profound impact of food supply problems at so many critical junctures in Russian and Soviet history, this thorough and rigorous survey deserves to be welcomed by all historians of Russia and the Soviet Union. * American Historical Review * The intrusion of two specialists in environmental policies into historical studies of Russia should only be welcomed. Commonly for each chapter, the section on weather variations and agricultural production, is the most interesting and contains the most new information. In these sections the authors fully exploit their expertise, usually lacking among humanist historians, and uncover technical sources (typically reports published by the Hydrometeorological Service) which are almost destined to be ignored by historians. The authors carefully try to identify to what extent each case of agricultural and food crisis in Soviet history was caused by climatic or political reasons. * Russian Review *

"""The book's most important contribution is its thorough and systematic overview of climatic changes, year by year, and their impact on the performance of Russian and Soviet agriculture. Given the profound impact of food supply problems at so many critical junctures in Russian and Soviet history, this thorough and rigorous survey deserves to be welcomed by all historians of Russia and the Soviet Union."" * American Historical Review * ""The ""intrusion"" of two specialists in environmental policies into historical studies of Russia should only be welcomed. Commonly for each chapter, the section on ""weather variations and agricultural production,"" is the most interesting and contains the most new information. In these sections the authors fully exploit their expertise, usually lacking among humanist historians, and uncover technical sources (typically reports published by the Hydrometeorological Service) which are almost destined to be ignored by historians. The authors carefully try to identify to what extent each case of agricultural and food crisis in Soviet history was caused by climatic or political reasons."" * Russian Review *"

Author Information

Niklolai M. Dronin lectures at Moscow State University and is involved in a number of international projects concerning environmental problems in Russia. The current book evolved from work with Kassel University (Germany) on climate change and food security in Russia. Edward G. Bellinger was Head of Environmental Sciences Department at the Central European University, Budapest,

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