The Oak and the Larch; A Forest History of Russia and Its Empires

 

Title of the book: The Oak and the Larch; A Forest History of Russia and Its Empires 

Author: Sophie Pinkham 

Publisher: W.W. Norton

Publishing Date: 2026

ISBN: 978-1-324-03668-5

Summary:

A majestic cultural and environmental history that reveals how forests have made—and resisted—Russia’s many empires.

From the Baltic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the steppes of Central Asia, Russia’s forests account for nearly one-fifth of the world’s wooded lands. The Oak and the Larch is the first-ever English-language exploration of this vast expanse—a dazzling environmental history of Russia that offers an urgent new understanding of the nature of Russian power, and of Russia’s ideas of itself.

Inspired by the majestic oak, which towers over the country’s western heartland, and the hardy Siberian larch, an emblem of survival in the east, award-winning scholar Sophie Pinkham’s magisterial account spans centuries, revealing how forests have nourished ancient Siberian indigenous societies, defended medieval Slavic settlements from Mongol invasion, and served as both an essential natural resource and a potent cultural symbol for Russia in all its incarnations, from the days of the tsars to the Soviets to Putin’s Federation.

By examining the country from the forest’s perspective, Pinkham pushes far beyond the contemporary political environment in Russia. She draws on literature, history, and art to connect the expanse of the Russian wilderness and the nature of Russian culture, with indelible portraits of the diverse figures who have inhabited and celebrated these forests: the legendary indigenous guide Dersu Uzala, giants of literature like Tolstoy and Chekhov, political thinkers like Kropotkin and even Stalin. She confronts the forest’s role in Russia’s long history of imperial conquest, and in resistance to this conquest.

Gorgeously written and surprising at every turn, The Oak and the Larch offers a vision of Russia rarely seen in the west, as a land defined by its wilderness, shaped by its encounters with the frontier, and—much like our own—ultimately beholden to nature’s whim.

Author Info:
(From goodreads)

Sophie Pinkham is a professor at Cornell University and a former NEH Public Scholar. Her writing on Russia and Ukraine has appeared in the New York Review of Books, New York Times, Guardian, New Yorker, and Harper’s. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

Personal Opinion:

Whether I like it or not, quite a few generations of my ancestors have called Russia their home, despite the Russian treatment of my ancestors, and whether or not I like it, Russia is part of me, a reason on why I wanted to read this book.  Previously I have read a Russian history by Vernadsky and have taken a Russian history class (although we only studied from 1900s up until past Stalin's death?) so reading it was more of a familiar experience for me, but at the same time it was a new experience as well because there are lots I didn't even know or wasn't even aware of. What I definitely find interesting is the whole cycle of how at the start Russians depended on the forests and trees, then they were encouraged to adapt Western European ways and now they are going back to the way things were. Whether or not one is new to Russian history, there is plenty to learn and enjoy about in there. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)