{"product_id":"white-birch-a-russian-reflection","title":"White Birch: A Russian Reflection","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe White Birch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e is a wide-ranging history of the relationship between Russian art, landscape and identity, through the lens of the white birch, Russia's unofficial national tree.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n                                                            \u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\n                              \u003cstrong\u003eLength\u003c\/strong\u003e: 352 pages\u003cbr\u003e\n                              \u003cstrong\u003ePublication date\u003c\/strong\u003e: 03 June 2021\u003cbr\u003e\n                              \u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e: Little, Brown Book Group\u003cbr\u003e\n                          \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'It has been hand-planted by Tsarinas and felled by foresters. It has been celebrated by peasants, worshipped by pagans and painted by artists. It has self-seeded across mountains and rivers and train tracks and steppe and right through the ruined modernity of a nuclear fall-out site. And like all symbols, the story of the birch has its share of horrors (white, straight, native, pure: how could it not?). But, maybe in the end, what I'm really in search of is a birch that means nothing: stripped of symbolism, bereft of use-value . . . A birch that is simply a tree in a land that couldn't give a shit.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe birch, genus \u003ci\u003eBetula,\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the northern hemisphere's most widespread and easily recognisable trees. A pioneer species, the birch is also Russia's unofficial national emblem, and in \u003ci\u003eThe White Birch\u003c\/i\u003e art critic Tom Jeffreys sets out to grapple with the riddle of Russianness through numerous journeys, encounters, histories and artworks that all share one thing in common: the humble birch tree.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe visit Catherine the Great's garden follies and Tolstoy's favourite chair; walk through the Chernobyl exclusion zone and among overgrown concrete bunkers in Vladivostok; explore the world of online Russian brides and spend a drunken night in Moscow with art-activists Pussy Riot, all the time questioning the role played by Russia's vastly diverse landscapes in forming and imposing national identity. And vice-versa: how has Russia's dramatically shifting self-image informed the way its people think about nature, land and belonging?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCurious, resonant and idiosyncratic, \u003ci\u003eThe White Birch\u003c\/i\u003e is a unique collection of journeys into Russia and among Russian people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n                            \u003cstrong\u003eWeight\u003c\/strong\u003e: 478g\n                            \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimension\u003c\/strong\u003e: 143 x 225 x 35 (mm)\n                            \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13\u003c\/strong\u003e: 9781472155672\n                            \n                          \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tom Jeffreys","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":44097625686266,"sku":"9781472155672","price":12.13,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/products\/0f3d29158cb50167540d9c6536363c3b.jpg?v=1631587224","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/white-birch-a-russian-reflection","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}