Publisher's Synopsis
From the Cossack adventurers' first incursions into "Sibir" in the late sixteenth century to the exiled criminals and political prisoners of the Soviet era to present-day impoverished Russians and entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in the oil-rich north, Hartley's comprehensive history offers a vibrant, profoundly human account of Siberia's development. One of the world's most inhospitable regions is humanized through personal narratives and colorful case studies as ordinary-and extraordinary-everyday life in "the nothingness" is presented in rich and fascinating detail.