On Arid Ground

Following a PhD at the School of Slavonic & East European Studies (University College London), Jennifer Keating was awarded a two-year Past & Present Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, London, and then a one-year teaching post in Russian and Soviet History at the University of Cambridge. She then took up a permanent lectureship in History at University College Dublin. Prior to taking up the post in Dublin, she taught at University College London, the University of Cambridge, and the London School of Economics.

• Introduction: Towards a political ecology of aridity1: The magical iron band2: (Re)claiming shade, roots, water3: Rural settlement and the question of surplus4: Ecological afterlives and natural tribute5: Revisiting the commodity frontier6: Ecologies of war and revoltConclusion: Central Asian environments in the age of empire

Jennifer Keating's On Arid Ground s a path-breaking study of the way empire and environment interacted in Central Asia through the 19th and early 20th centuries. This book innovates on a number of fronts, not least by showing the importance of ecology and environment in forcing the Russian Empire to adapt its long-term geopolitical strategy. It significantly changes the way we think of Russian Empire-building and outlines a fascinating picture of land reclamation, settlement and commodity development, while often putting to the fore actors beyond the human, from sandstorms to termites. Inspiring and important, it will be influential for historians working on other imperial contexts, and above all for our thinking about environment and human social and political organisation today.