Overview

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. The Oak and the Larch is the first-ever English-language exploration of this vast expanse—a dazzling environmental history of Russia that offers an urgent new understanding of the nature of Russian power, and of Russia’s ideas of itself. Inspired by the majestic oak, which towers over the country’s western heartland, and the hardy Siberian larch, an emblem of survival in the east, award-winning scholar Sophie Pinkham’s magisterial account spans centuries, revealing how forests have nourished ancient Siberian indigenous societies, defended medieval Slavic settlements from Mongol invasion, and served as both an essential natural resource and a potent cultural symbol for Russia in all its incarnations, from the days of the tsars to the Soviets to Putin’s Federation. By examining the country from the forest’s perspective, Pinkham pushes far beyond the contemporary political environment in Russia. She draws on literature, history, and art to connect the expanse of the Russian wilderness and the nature of Russian culture, with indelible portraits of the diverse figures who have inhabited and celebrated these forests: the legendary indigenous guide Dersu Uzala, giants of literature like Tolstoy and Chekhov, political thinkers like Kropotkin and even Stalin. She confronts the forest’s role in Russia’s long history of imperial conquest, and in resistance to this conquest. Gorgeously written and surprising at every turn, The Oak and the Larch offers a vision of Russia rarely seen in the west, as a land defined by its wilderness, shaped by its encounters with the frontier, and—much like our own—ultimately beholden to nature’s whim.

Full Product Details

9781324036685

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Perceptive, wide-ranging, and gracefully written, The Oak and the Larch is a momentous chronicle of Russia’s vast and vital woodlands and their agency in a human history that touches us all. No less than how we respond to rising seas, the lessons we follow from this sylvan past—and this book—will determine our future on Earth."" -- Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf ""As sweeping as the Russian forests themselves, this book gives us a new way to think about the history and present of Eurasia—as a place defined by how people have lived with trees. From forest goblins and exiles to Indigenous practices and literary interpretations, Pinkham shows the vast range of relationships its possible to have with the forest, from conquest to coexistence, offering urgent lessons for a time when living with our environments is so key."" -- Bathsheba Demuth, author of The Floating Coast ""The surprising story of Russia as told through its trees. Pinkham is a deft and generous guide, showing us how much the forest has meant to the peoples and powers of Russia. The forest has been friend and enemy, sanctuary and prison, zone of industry and realm of the spirit. Pinkham gives us not just a new way to see Russian history but an unexpected source of inspiration for renewing our own relationship with the natural world. It is a good moment to be reminded of the many contributions our nonhuman neighbors have made to the project of human civilization, and what we stand to lose from the destruction of the earth."" -- Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People ""For Sophie Pinkham, Russia's forests contain everything: animals and spirits, legends and fairytales, seeds of the world's greatest novels, whole histories of political repression and revolution, and hope for a radically post-national future. The Oak and the Larch is a towering achievement, a work of remarkable synthesis and sensitive storytelling. I learned so much from this indispensable book."" -- Merve Emre, contributing writer, The New Yorker, and author of The Personality Brokers ""From its opening words, The Oak and the Larch captures our attention and takes us on a fascinating journey across vast sweeps of time and space. Pinkham’s book, drawing on a range of disciplines, from history to folklore, ecology to economics, and written with sophistication and wit, presents Russia and its empires in a dramatically new light. A revelation that entertains as much as it enlightens."" -- Douglas Smith, author of Former People

""Perceptive, wide-ranging, and gracefully written, The Oak and the Larch is a momentous chronicle of Russia’s vast and vital woodlands and their agency in a human history that touches us all. The lessons we follow from this sylvan past—and this book—will determine our future on Earth."" -- Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf ""The Oak and the Larch gives us a new way to think about the history and present of Eurasia—as a place defined by how people have lived with trees. . . . Sophie Pinkham shows the vast range of relationships it’s possible to have with the forest, from conquest to coexistence, offering urgent lessons for a time when living with our environments is so key."" -- Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast ""The forest has been friend and enemy, sanctuary and prison, zone of industry and realm of the spirit. Sophie Pinkham gives us not just a new way to see Russian history but an unexpected source of inspiration for renewing our own relationship with the natural world."" -- Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People ""For Sophie Pinkham, Russia’s forests contain everything: animals and spirits, legends and fairytales, seeds of the world’s greatest novels, whole histories of political repression and revolution, and hope for a radically post-national future. The Oak and the Larch is a towering achievement, a work of remarkable synthesis and sensitive storytelling."" -- Merve Emre, contributing writer for The New Yorker and author of The Personality Brokers ""Sophie Pinkham’s book, drawing on a range of disciplines, from history to folklore, ecology to economics, and written with sophistication and wit, presents Russia and its empires in a dramatically new light. A revelation that entertains as much as it enlightens."" -- Douglas Smith, author of Former People

Author Information

Sophie Pinkham is a professor at Cornell University and a former NEH Public Scholar. Her writing on Russia and Ukraine has appeared in the New York Review of Books, New York Times, Guardian, New Yorker, and Harper’s. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

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