Synopses & Reviews
Larger in area than the United States and Europe combined, Siberia is a land of extremes, not merely in terms of climate and expanse, but in the many kinds of lives its population has led over the course of four centuries. Janet M. Hartley explores the history of this vast Russian wastelandand#151;whose very name is a common euphemism for remote bleakness and exileand#151;through the lives of the people who settled there, either willingly, desperately, or as prisoners condemned to exile or forced labor in mines or the gulag.
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From the Cossack adventurersand#8217; first incursions into and#147;Sibirand#8221; in the late sixteenth century to the exiled criminals and political prisoners of the Soviet era to present-day impoverished Russians and entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in the oil-rich north, Hartleyand#8217;s comprehensive history offers a vibrant, profoundly human account of Siberiaand#8217;s development. One of the worldand#8217;s most inhospitable regions is humanized through personal narratives and colorful case studies as ordinaryand#151;and extraordinaryand#151;everyday life in and#147;the nothingnessand#8221; is presented in rich and fascinating detail.
Review
'In this vivid, carefully researched and authoritative work, Janet Hartley blends overall survey with individual case studies and#8211; many drawn from local archives and#8211; to throw light on Siberia as a part of Russia, yet also as a distinct region with its own marked characteristics. It should become the standard work on its subject.' - Geoffrey Hosking, author of Russia and the Russians: From the Earliest Times to the Present
Review
and#8216;In this excellent book, Janet M Hartley. . .andnbsp;elegantly captures the essence of a place of extremes by describing its people, both the settlers and the settled, the free and the unfree. . .Hartleyand#8217;s beautifully chosen and told compendium of life stories down the centuries illuminates a region where, today, Asiatic faces are as numerous as Slavic ones, and believers are as likely to be Buddhist or shamanic as Christian and#8212; a place thatand#8217;s still more full of human extremes than pretty much anywhere else, and all of them brought about by Russian rule.and#8217;and#8212;Vanora Bennett, The Sunday Times
Review
and#8216;In settling us there, Hartley gives us a history of Russia from the perspective that most immediately captures a foreignerand#8217;s imagination.and#8217;and#8212;Tom Payne, The Daily Telegraph
Review
and#39;In her masterful study of Siberiaand#39;s people...Hartleyand#39;s skill lies in her ability to make historical events vivid and accessible.and#39;andmdash;Will Nicoll, The Spectator
About the Author
Janet M. Hartley is professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science.