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In Russia's Far East sits the wild Ussuri Kray, a region known for
its remote highlands and rugged mountain passes where tigers and
bears roam the cliffs, and salmon and lenok navigate the rivers. In
this collection of travel writing by famed Russian explorer and
naturalist Vladimir K. Arsenyev (1872-1930), readers are shuttled
back to the turn of the 20th century when the Russian Empire was
reeling from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and
vulnerable to its Far Eastern neighbors. What began as an
expedition to survey the region's infrastructure for the Russian
military turned into an adventure through a territory rich in
ethnic and ecological diversity. Encountering the disappearing
indigenous cultures of the Nanai and Udege, engaging the help of
Korean farmers and Chinese hunters, and witnessing the beginning of
indomitable Russian settlement, Arsenyev documents the lives and
customs of the region's inhabitants and their surroundings.
Originally written as "a popular scientific description of the
Kray," this unabridged edition includes photographs largely unseen
for nearly a century and is annotated by Jonathan C. Slaght, a
biologist working in the same forests Arsenyev explored. Across the
Ussuri Kray is a classic of northeast Asian cultural and natural
history.
In Russia's Far East sits the wild Ussuri Kray, a region known for
its remote highlands and rugged mountain passes where tigers and
bears roam the cliffs, and salmon and lenok navigate the rivers. In
this collection of travel writing by famed Russian explorer and
naturalist Vladimir K. Arsenyev (1872-1930), readers are shuttled
back to the turn of the 20th century when the Russian Empire was
reeling from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and
vulnerable to its Far Eastern neighbors. What began as an
expedition to survey the region's infrastructure for the Russian
military turned into an adventure through a territory rich in
ethnic and ecological diversity. Encountering the disappearing
indigenous cultures of the Nanai and Udege, engaging the help of
Korean farmers and Chinese hunters, and witnessing the beginning of
indomitable Russian settlement, Arsenyev documents the lives and
customs of the region's inhabitants and their surroundings.
Originally written as "a popular scientific description of the
Kray," this unabridged edition includes photographs largely unseen
for nearly a century and is annotated by Jonathan C. Slaght, a
biologist working in the same forests Arsenyev explored. Across the
Ussuri Kray is a classic of northeast Asian cultural and natural
history.
In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress
Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the
far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern
Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and
strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of
everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from
requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing
customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication,
bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science,
Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped
across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their
exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of
fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and
the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to
prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and
the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the
poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples.
What emerges is a remarkable window into life—both human and
animal—in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the
expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for
centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from
the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for
the first time.
The Times Nature Book of the Year 2020 Winner of the PEN/E.O.
Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A Finalist for the Stanford
Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award 'Remarkable. If only every
endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned, courageous
and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
'Gripping' Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale Primorye, a
remote forested region near to where Russia, China and North Korea
meet in a tangle of barbed wire, is the only place where brown
bears, tigers and leopards co-exist. It is also home to one of
nature's rarest birds, the Blakiston's fish owl. A chance encounter
with this huge, strange bird was to change wildlife researcher
Jonathan C. Slaght's life beyond measure. This is the story of
Slaght's quest to safeguard the elusive owl from extinction. During
months-long journeys covering thousands of miles, he has pursued it
through its forbidding territory. He has spent time with the
Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga
forest. And he has observed how Russia's logging interests and
evolving fortunes present new threats to the owl's survival.
Preserving its habitats will secure the forest for future
generations, both animal and human - but can this battle be won?
Exhilarating and clear-sighted, Owls of the Eastern Ice is an
impassioned reflection on our relationship with the natural world
and on what it means to devote one's career to a single pursuit.
'Slaght makes the people, wildlife and landscape of the Russian Far
East come alive. I haven't enjoyed a book on remote Russia as much
as this since Ian Frazier's Travels in Siberia' Sophy Roberts,
author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia 'True epic. Powerful,
passionate' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress
Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the
far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern
Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and
strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of
everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from
requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing
customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication,
bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science,
Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped
across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their
exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of
fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and
the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to
prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and
the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the
poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples.
What emerges is a remarkable window into life-both human and
animal-in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the
expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for
centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from
the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for
the first time.
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