In the early 1880s, a distinctive religious landscape developed in Kyrgyzstan. Until 1874, Mennonite colonists in southern Russia enjoyed special privileges which included a dispensation from military service. The withdrawal of those privileges sparked mass emigration. Many of the most effective farmers left Russia’s Volga region, some bound for North America, others heading for central Asia. Those who stayed in Russia were offered, as an alternative to military service, the chance to work in the Russian Forestry Service which quickly developed entire brigades composed only of Mennonites.

The spine of Russia
Mikhail Mordasov is a very talented Russian photographer. Paul Richardson is a translator and writer who knows Russia well. When Mikhail and Paul decided to create a book from a long road trip across Russia, we knew something good was in the ...