The plough that broke the Steppes: agriculture and environment on Russia's Grasslands, 1700-1914

""Cover""; ""Contents""; ""Preface and Acknowledgements""; ""List of Illustrations""; ""List of Maps""; ""List of Tables""; ""List of Abbreviations""; ""Glossary""; ""Russian Units of Measure""; ""A Note on Transliteration and Proper Nouns""; ""Introduction""; ""PART I. UNDERSTANDING THE STEPPE ENVIRONMENT""; ""1. The Eyes of Outsiders""; ""2. The Lens of Science and Statistics""; ""PART II. UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE""; ""Introduction: Who is to Blame?""; ""3. Vegetation""; ""4. Climate Change""; ""5. The Land""; ""PART III. COMBATING THE STEPPE ENVIRONMENT?""

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.