Sophie Pinkham, professor of the practice in comparative literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, won the 2026 Pushkin House Book Prize for “The Oak and the Larch: A Forest History of Russia and its Empires.”
Published this year, the book explores the forest’s place at the heart of Russian culture.
“Sophie Pinkham’s work is remarkable for its originality and the way it brings environmental and cultural perspectives together to offer a fresh way of thinking about Russia’s past and present,” said Sir Laurie Bristow KCMG, University of Cambridge and chair of the book prize judging panel. “She moves with remarkable breadth between history and literature, ideology and folk culture, empire and climate change, while remaining attentive to the human experience of the vast forests at the heart of the book. It is an exceptionally well-written, poetic and thoughtful exploration of some of the enduring questions of society, power and identity.”
In the book, Pinkham tells Russia’s history through the lens of the forest, highlighting episodes like the conquest of Siberia, the story of Russia’s Indigenous peoples, and Stalin’s “Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature.” She considers mythological figures, literary giants and political leaders up to the present moment. Imperialism is a central theme, with sections on the Russian conquest of Chechnya, when it razed forests that gave shelter to guerillas, and the current war in Ukraine, when swampy forests have slowed tanks and evergreen plantations offer precious cover from drones.
“Most books about Russia written in English take Moscow of St. Petersburg as their center, for good reason,” Pinkham said. “But Russia is the largest country in the world by area, with one-fifth of the earth’s trees. By starting in the woods rather than the capital, I was able to center places, peoples, and ideas that often go unexplored in writing about Russia for a popular audience. My goal was to write a fresh, surprising new kind of history of Russia. It’s such an honor to receive Pushkin House’s prize and to see the enthusiastic reception of ‘The Oak and the Larch’ so far.”
Located in London, Pushkin House is an arts, cultural and social space that explores, challenges and debates Russian culture and identity today. The Pushkin House Book Prize was created in 2013 to highlight nonfiction books published in English that examine Russian culture, history, politics and other topics, looking beyond the borders of modern Russia to include countries, nations and communities which have been affected by the Russian Empire, Soviet Union or Russian Federation. Past winners include Benjamin Nathans’ “To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement,” which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.
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