In the history of geographical discovery and exploration, a well-known cast of European characters and events takes center stage. While the importance of achievements by Columbus, Cortés, Magellan, Cook, Lewis and Clark, and Neil Armstrong remains unassailable, the participation of Russia in the European era of exploration, conquest, expansion, and colonization deserves equal attention.
This study provides a narrative survey and critical analysis of a rich but overlooked tradition of geographical exploration by Russians and others in Russian service since 1580. Following Russian pioneers across Siberia, Alaska, Brazil, Hawaii and the Pacific, Central Asia, Australasia, the Arctic and Antarctic, and into space, this work establishes Russia in the history of world exploration and connects the Russian experience of exploration to Russian national identity past and present.

Brian Bonhomme is an associate professor of Russian and environmental history at Youngstown State University in Ohio. He is the author of several scholarly works on the environmental history of Russia.

Brian Bonhomme
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 232
Bibliographic Info: 6 photos, 13 maps, bibliographies, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6687-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8956-5
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction      1

1. The “Conquest of Siberia”: Ermak’s Expedition of 1581–1585 and Its Aftermath      9

2. Into the Siberian Interior: The Crossing and Early Investigation of Terrestrial North Eurasia      27

3. The Edges of Empire: Russian Explorations along Coastal North Eurasia from the Earliest Times to the Final Conquest of the Northeast Passage      44

4. To Alaska      77

5. Warmer Climes: Russia Heads South      101

6. Russian Journeys into Central Asia      128

7. To the Ends of the Earth: Russians in the North and South Polar Regions      149

8. A New Frontier: Russians, the USSR and Space      173

Conclusions      196

Notes      201

Index      219

Choice Outstanding Academic Title
“fills an important gap and does so in an informative, informed and very readable fashion. A must read…essential”—Choice.