THE PLOUGH THAT BROKE THE STEPPES by David Moon ( 9780199556434 )

Item Details

Title:

THE PLOUGH THAT BROKE THE STEPPES
AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT ON RUSSIA'S GRASSLANDS, 1700-1914

By:

David Moon

Format:

Hardback

List price:

£157.50

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£152.78

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3% off

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£4.72

ISBN 10:

0199556431

ISBN 13:

9780199556434

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Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

28 February, 2013

Series:

Oxford Studies in Modern European History

Pages:

344

Description:

This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. David Moon focuses on the settlement of migrants from central Russia, Ukraine, and central Europe, and analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth.

Synopsis:

This is the first environmental history of Russia's steppes. From the early-eighteenth century, settlers moved to the semi-arid but fertile grasslands from wetter, forested regions in central and northern Russia and Ukraine, and from central Europe. By the late-nineteenth century, they had turned the steppes into the bread basket of the Russian Empire and parts of Europe. But there was another side to this story. The steppe region was hit by recurring droughts, winds from the east whipped up dust storms, the fertile black earth suffered severe erosion, crops failed, and in the worst years there was famine. David Moon analyses how naturalists and scientists came to understand the steppe environment, including the origins of the fertile black earth. He also analyses how scientists tried to understand environmental change, including climate change. Farmers, and the scientists who advised them, tried different ways to deal with the recurring droughts: planting trees, irrigation, and cultivating the soil in ways that helped retain scarce moisture. More sustainable, however, were techniques of cultivation to retain scarce moisture in the soil. Among the pioneers were Mennonite settlers.Such approaches aimed to work with the environment, rather than trying to change it by planting trees or supplying more water artificially. The story is similar to the Dust Bowl on the Great Plains of the USA, which share a similar environment and environmental history. David Moon places the environmental story of the steppes in the wider context of the environmental history of European colonialism around the globe.

Illustrations:

Four maps and 3 black and white images

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Prizes:

Winner of Winner of the 2013 Alexander Nove Prize (awarded 2015).

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

ABOLITION OF SERFDOM IN RUSSIA