Book review of "Moon, David. The American Steppes: The Unexpected Russian Roots of Great Plains Agriculture, 1870s‐1930s. Cambridge University Press, UK, 2020. xxxiii + 432 pp. £90, hardback. ISBN: 9781107103603."

[Extract] n The American Steppes: The Unexpected Russian Roots of Great Plains Agriculture, 1870s–1930s, David Moon offers a new perspective on the environmental history of the American Great Plains. Starting from the mixed reactions of the Mennonite migrants of the Eurasian steppe grasslands on their way to their new home in the plains, Moon explains why many aspects of agricultural practices in the Great Plains take, surprisingly, their origin across the Atlantic from the Russian steppes, an area of similar soils and climate. Between the 1870s and 1930s the movement of people: Germanic including Mennonites and Russian Jews from the steppes, facilitated the transfer of experience in cultivating in semi-arid grasslands, but also of plants and variety of grains, fodder crops, trees and weeds. At around the same time, agricultural scientists interested in the two regions introduced more plants, soil science and techniques such as planting shelterbelts of trees to protect the land from the wind. Among these scientists were Russian Jewish émigrés from the Tsarist empire whose language skills assisted with the dissemination of Russian crop sciences and innovative science of studying the soil devised by the Russian scientists led by Vasilii Dokuchaev.

European Journal of Soil Science

European Journal of Soil Science

72

1365-2389

N/A

2

2