A Review of Catherine Evtuhov, Julia Lajus, and David Moon (eds.), Thinking Russia’s History Environmentally. New York: Berghahn Books, 2023, 344 pp.

Abstract

In Thinking Russia’s History Environmentally the editors, Catherine Evtuhov, Julia Lajus and David Moon have brought together a unique group of authors, who offer a view of Russian history through the lens of environmental history. This approach provides a universal language that allows one to move away from the prejudices rooted in historiography. The collection includes works covering the broad historical period from the 16th to the 20th century and deals not only with issues of environmental pollution, but also with the formation of new scientific knowledge and management expertise. The diversity of research topics makes the collection truly colourful. It should also be noted that the research does not focus exclusively on the negative side of the human-environment relationship. At the same time, many authors point to the need to consider the problem of colonial policies in order better to understand the issues under consideration.