Review
"...performs a vital task by synthesizing multivolume ethnographic and historical works of German, imperial Russian, and Soviet scholars in one volume." Choice

"James Forsyth's monumental undertaking helps correct the absence of information on the native Siberians, their culture and politics, and the points at which the Russian and Soviet government met the native Siberian peoples. Forsyth's work is most enlightening when he describes the dynamics of internal Siberian politics and the effect of those dynamics on the Russian Empire. His superb, clearly presented information on Siberian native languages, ethnic connections between peoples, and Siberian religions becomes even more valuable in the presentation of this data in its integrated forum...Forsyth's study provides that additional information necessary to understand the peoples of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the post-Soviet Union, and the battles they fought and continue to fight." The Historian

"Forsyth's book on the history of the original peoples of Siberia under Russian rule is therefore not only timely but indispensable....[T]hroughout the work Forsyth makes comparative references to the social histories of the Native peoples of Canada and the United States....both compelling and insightful....[A] major contribution to the scholarship on the original peoples of Siberia. It is an indispensable text for both those who are interested in the nationalities question in Russia and those who are concerned with the past, present, and future of the indigenous peoples of our world." Greg Poelzer, Canadian Slavonic Papers

"...an ambitious volume tracing the history of what were in 1989 some one and a half million people, divided into some thirty major groups, comprising as many languages, from the earliest period of Russian conquest to communism and beyond." Bruce Grant, Slavic Review

"In this ambitious synthetic effort Forsyth has drawn together an impressive array of material hitherto unavailable in English, revising the picture of Siberia as an empty land inhabited by only thinly scattered natives. Combining very closely detailed yet engaging narration, and occassional ventures into comparative history and interdisciplinary studies, he offers us a splendidly comprehensive account of the ethnohistory of Siberia...The sixteen illustrations included here are superb and add an important dimension to the history...While Forsyth's narrative and interpretation are unparalleled in English, the illustrations, detailed table of contents, and comprehensive index and bibliography alone make the work an essential reference for Siberian history." Nationalities Paper


Book Description
This is the first ethnohistory of Siberia to appear in English, and presents to an anglophone audience a vast corpus of previously inaccessible ethnographic and linguistic material. It covers from the early history of Siberia after the Russian conquest to collectivization and conscription during World War II and to the 1980s movement ror native rights. In this, the first substantive "post-Glasnost" account to appear, James Forsyth compares the Siberian experience with that of Indians and Eskimos in North America.

FROM THE PUBLISHER