AA.VV - Сибирь (Siberia) - 1964

This USSR-era propaganda photobook celebrates the advances in the vast Siberian Region of Russia during Khrushchev's era in the 1960s. New industry is booming, factories belch smoke, cities of concrete tower blocks are springing up across the land, newly planted fields of wheat are endless, new rail lines stretch into the distance, trees are felled to fuel the demands of industry, indigenous people are happy under Soviet rule and technology will solve all our problems. But of course it was all lies.

Siberia, kept underdeveloped and poor under the Tsar was transformed into a space for systematic colonisation and exploitation after the Second World War. Like the American West, Siberia was presented as a land of opportunity where the resources and lands inhabited by and indigenous people existed to be plundered and looted in the name of the state. The result was a toxic legacy of social disintegration, pollution and environmental decay which still plagues the region and Russia to this day.

But this book shows none of that. The photographic narrative is upbeat and positive, with dramatic images of industry and construction transforming the land and collective farmers cheerfully toiling in the new fields to bring in the harvest. This book is an unabashed celebration of how the Soviet regime has opened up a backward region and brought modernity to it's people, promising a brighter future for all and provides a fascinating glimpse into how a totalitarian regime convinced people to accept poverty in return for hope.

Condition:
Very good. Minor sun fading to spine. Small bumps to top and bottom of spine. Small blemish to front cover. Interior clean and fresh. Text and photo captions in English, German, French and Spanish at the rear of the book. Please examine listing photographs carefully.