This book is a ground-breaking work, at least among the English language publications. The little-known eastern Finno-Ugric peoples have so far seemed to receive scant attention in the West, and this is one of the few topics about which I found more books published in my native Hungarian (in a fellow Finno-Ugric country) than in English.
Most publications on the Finno-Ugric peoples tend to be linguistic or ethnographic descriptions, and for history one had to be content with short introductory chapters in these, or in general histories of Russia or Siberia (of which Forsyth's "A History of the Peoples of Siberia" stands out) where the treatment of the Finno-Ugrics is invariably limited.
Taagepera's book now largely fills this gap!
It is detailed history of all but the smallest of these nations (including the Samoyeds) right up to the mid-1990-es.
After introductory chapters on the Finno-Ugric nations in the World context and on the independent Finno-Ugric countries of the EU, he describes the history of each eastern group in separate chapters (40-50 pages on each). While "traditional" culture is described briefly and the long history of contact with the Russians is dealt with in depth, the major focus is on the recent developments and prospects for the future.
Unlike some other books, this one doesn't see all these ethnic groups (and their languages) as doomed, though it does advocate that a greater extent of autonomy is required to help them survive as distinct nations.
The last chapter is devoted to examining chances of this being granted in today's Russia. While the politics of that vast country are ever-changing, current trends unfortunately give little reason to be optimistic.
It is a pity that the relatively high price of this book may limit its readership... :-(
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