The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians

Description

An epic of adventure, heroism, discovery, exploitation, and almost unimaginable cruelty--unrivaled in human history. This sweeping account tells of rulers, statesmen, explorers, and convicts whose destinies were shaped in the vast forests and steppes of Eurasia. Photos. Maps. Contents Prologue Part One. The Beginnings 1 The Fury of God 2 “Great Khan of All the People Living in Felt Tents” 3 Batu’s Winter War 4 On Kulikovo Field Part Two. The Russians Take Siberia 5 Anika and His Sons 6 Ermak’s “Conquest” 7 The Siberians 8 To the Great Ocean 9 Searching for Grain 10 Discovering a Passage Between Two Continents 11 Life on the Siberian Frontier Part Three. The Russians Explore Their Conquest 12 The Demidovs, Frontier Iron, and Tsar Peter 13 Bering’s First Voyage 14 The Great Northern Expedition 15 The Russians “Discover” America 16 The “Russian Columbus” 17 At the Threshold of a New Era Part Four. The Largest Part of the Russian Empire 18 Governor- General Speranskii 19 Katorga and Ssylka 20 Two Princesses 21 Dostoevskii in the “House of the Dead” 22 The Search for Gold 23 Muravëv Takes the Amur 24 Kerman’s Journey 25 The “Politicals” 26 “By Administrative Process ” 27 Lenin in Exile 28 An Iron Road Across Asia 29 Building the World’s Longest Railroad 30 Amur River Boats and Russia’s Manchurian Connection 31 Lake Baikal 32 “A Small Victorious War” 33 The Immigrants 34 Siberia’s Wild East 35 The Lena Goldfields Massacre 36 “I Hate the Autocracy So Much ” 37 Before the Storm 38 War and Revolution Part Five. Red Siberia 39 Czech Legion 40 “Pitch-forked into the Melee ” 41 Siberia’s Supreme Ruler 42 The Bolsheviks Take Siberia 43 Jack Scott and Siberia’s Magnetic Mountain 44 Edible Fossils 45 Socialist Reconstruction 46 The Great Relocation Part Six. Siberia ’s Modem Age 47 Stalin’s Last Years 48 Virgin Lands 49 Bratsk Power Station 50 The BAM 51 Riches of Samotlor and Urengoi 52 Siberia’s Soviet Heritage Acknowledgments Key to Abbreviations Notes Works and Sources Cited Index