On the initiative of the Khabarovsk and Magadan book publishers, the publication of the Far Eastern Historical Library series was launched. The preliminary plan for the publication of books in this series was reviewed at the Institute of History of the USSR of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The organizers of the series set themselves the task of publishing the works of major Soviet historians, ethnographers and archaeologists, along with reprinting the books of outstanding Russian researchers of the Far East. Currently, five books in the series have already been published, which makes it possible to summarize some of the results of this initiative.

The first book is a reprint of G. I. Nevelsky's work "Exploits of Russian Naval Officers in the Far East of Russia" 1 (Khabarovsk. 1969). The book was published under the scientific editorship of A. I. Alekseev, a well-known historian and geographer, author of many works on the history of the study of the Far East. In addition to an extensive scientific commentary, A. I. Alekseev wrote an interesting essay about the life and work of G. I. Nevelsky, which was included in the publication, and he also prepared previously unpublished photographs of the participants of the Amur expedition and maps.

Admiral G. I. Nevelskoy was an outstanding hydrographic scientist. Being the organizer and leader of the Amur expedition of 1849-1855, he confirmed the ownership of the Russian state through his energetic and proactive actions.-

1 G. I. Nevelsky's book was first published in 1878, then published in 1897, 1947 and 1950.

page 156

to the Government of Primorye, the Amur Region, and Sakhalin. In his book, G. I. Nevelskoy sharply criticizes the short-sightedness of the Far Eastern policy of tsarism. The richest lands of this remote suburb, discovered by Russian explorers and Cossacks under the leadership of V. D. Poyarkov, E. P. Khabarov, O. Stepanov and others, watered with the sweat and blood of several generations of Russian people and actually annexed to Russia in the first half of the XVII century, remained practically undeveloped and not legally fixed for more than 100 years. On the territory of more than 500 thousand square kilometers in the middle of the XIX century, only 25 thousand people lived here. G. I. Nevelskoy tells about the hard and difficult work of his colleagues on the Amur expedition.

In 1970, the Khabarovsk Book Publishing House reprinted the work of the famous Russian geographer and scientist M. I. Venyukov "Travels in the Amur Region, China and Japan" 2 . The book is preceded by an introduction by A. A. Stepanov. It is a pity, however, that there are no maps or illustrations in it. M. I. Venyukov was one of the most active members of the Geographical Society. He left behind a large literary and scientific legacy: books, articles, reviews and reviews. The boundaries of his travels stretched from Sakhalin, through the Amur region, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, to Transcaucasia and the Caucasus. He was also scientifically interested in Russia's closest neighbors - Japan, China, India, Iran, and Turkey. M. I. Venyukov's political sympathies are indicated by the fact that he was a secret employee of the foreign revolutionary publications of A. I. Herzen and N. P. Ogarev. From the extensive heritage of M. I. Venyukov, the book "Travels in the Amur Region, China and Japan" is of the greatest interest. From the standpoint of an advanced scientist and patriot, the author asserts the priority of Russian travelers, Cossacks and ordinary people in the discovery and exploration of the Far East. M. I. Venyukov was the first in Russian literature to highlight the origin and development of capitalist contradictions in the Pacific Ocean. He exposed the aggressive policy of the British, French and American colonialists in the Far East and convincingly showed the progressive importance of establishing the Russian people on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

The Magadan Book Publishing House published three books in the series in 1969-1970. The first of them is a reissue of the work of the famous Norwegian scientist and polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen "To the Land of the Future" 3 . The afterword to it was written by V. F. Burkhanov. This book was never reprinted during the years of Soviet power. Therefore, it is now far from well known that F. Nansen visited Russia in 1913. On the cargo steamer Correct, he sailed along the Yenisei River to Krasnoyarsk, and then by rail reached Vladivostok, from where, after traveling through Siberia, he returned to Europe. The Far East and Siberia made an indelible impression on him. He wrote: "In this relentless quest for the East, the soul seemed to expand... New horizons were constantly opening up... Here lie endless spaces, fraught with brilliant possibilities, and just waiting for the application of human creative forces " (p. 300). The result of the trip was the book "To the Land of the Future", in which F. For the first time in the scientific literature of that time, Nansen gave a detailed assessment of the economic resources of Siberia and the prospects for its development. He paid considerable attention to the study of the north of Siberia. The book is written in a lively language and provides a lot of interesting and useful information on the history, geography and everyday life of the peoples of Siberia. The forecasts he made 60 years ago about the prospects for the development of this region not only came true, but many times exceeded his assumptions thanks to the heroic work of the Soviet people and the achievements of our science.

N. N. Dikov's book "Ancient bonfires of Kamchatka and Chukotka" (Magadan. 1969) is an original work of the famous Far Eastern archaeologist, historian and local historian. From 1955 to 1960, he was the director of the Chukotka Museum. During this period, the first exploration archaeological expeditions of the museum staff were carried out in Chukotka and Kamchatka. Later, N. N. Dikov and his colleagues during many years of excavations discovered numerous sites of the oldest in the North-west of Russia.-

2 This book was first published in 1952.

3 It was first published in Russian in 1915 in Petrograd.

page 157

east of the country of Paleolithic culture, as well as monuments of a later time. The discovery of the remarkable Petgymel petroglyphs should be considered a great success of these scientific studies. The materials of the Chukotka and Kamchatka expeditions refute the opinion of bourgeois historians that the peoples of the far north-east of our country did not and could not have had a history. Archaeological excavations of Soviet scientists, described by N. N. Dikov, confirm that during the Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and early Neolithic, the tribes of Chukotka and Kamchatka were at the same level of development as other tribes of our planet. They created amazing visual art and complex oral folk art. As a result of his research, N. N. Dikov came to the conclusion that in distant epochs, people penetrated to the American mainland from Northeast Asia, that is, from the extreme northeast of our country. This point of view is supported by anthropologists who argue that the indigenous population of America could once have come only from Asia. The closest and most convenient route from Asia to America was through the Bering Strait, which was probably not a Strait at the time.

The book "Ancient bonfires of Kamchatka and Chukotka" is valuable not only for the analysis of purely archaeological material. The author skillfully weaves into its content a lot of interesting information about the history, geography, culture and everyday life of the peoples of Kamchatka and Chukotka, dating back to a later period. He chose a somewhat unusual form of presentation for the scientific literature of our days - diary entries. This left an impression of sincerity and sincerity on the whole book. N. N. Dikov invested in his research not only the knowledge and experience of the scientist, but also his love for the regions he studied and for the people who inhabited them.

The last of the books published in this series is A. I. Alekseev's monograph "Brave Sons of Russia" (Magadan. 1970). In 28 essays, the author tells about the glorious Russian explorers S. I. Dezhnev and F. Alekseev, V. D. Poyarkov and E. P. Khabarovsk, about the discoverer of the Kuril Islands I. P. Kozyrevsky, about the brave Russian sailors E. S. Basov and M. V. Nevodchikov, about the courageous navigators V. I. Bering, P. K. Krenitsyn, about the "Russian Columbus" G. I. Shelikhov, about M. S. Gvozdev, who together with I. Fedorov in 1732 first visited the coast of North America from the Pacific Ocean. Interesting essays about the participants of the Bering expedition - D. Ya.Laptev, who made the first description of the interior of Chukotka; the famous scientist S. P. Krasheninnikov, who first studied the nature of Kamchatka; circumnavigators F. P. Litke and F. P. Wrangel; pioneers of the study of Primorye and Sakhalin A. F. Middendorf and F. B. Schmidt. The book also contains essays about the navigator A. Tolstoy, who discovered a large group of Aleutian Islands; the navigators of Russian America I. F. Vasiliev and A. F. Kashevarov; the traveler in Chukotka G. L. Meidel; scientists N. V. Slyunin, K. I. Bogdanov, I. P. Tolmachev, who explored the Okhotsk-Chukotka-Kamchatka Territory; the glorious sailors of the Amur expedition under the command of G. I. Nevelsky; the remarkable writer and scientist V. K. Arsenyev; the courageous sailors-hydrographers and scientists B. A. Davydov and L. A. Demin and other Russian researchers of the Far East.

A. I. Alekseev's book is a kind of encyclopedia of knowledge on the history of studying the Far East and the north-western part of North America. The work is based on the study of archival documents, including information from family archives, memories of relatives and close characters of the book. The author also makes extensive use of little-known and half-forgotten publications and materials. A distinctive feature of the book is the combination of live artistic images with deeply scientific data.

Acquaintance with the first books from the Far Eastern Historical Library series shows that a big and important work has been started. Popular science literature aimed at the general reader opens up great opportunities for scientists and historians in educating Soviet people, especially the younger generation, to love their homeland.

KP Ten

page 158

Permanent link to this publication: