Bookvica

[SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA : STALINIST CONSTRUCTIONS] Zdes’ budet voda [i.e. Here There Will Be Water]

Ruderman, M.

Item #2267

Moscow: Detgiz, 1952. 12 pp. 28x22 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Near fine.

This children’s book was published in the late Stalinist period to promote one of the huge construction projects. The book presents a talk between two young pioneers – one from Moscow and one from a Central Asian settlement – about the construction that would significantly transform nature. They are talking about the Main Turkmen Canal, an unfinished large-scale project of watering and land reclamation of the Turkmen SSR.
The project was launched in 1949. For this construction site, the Karakum forced labor camp was founded in 1950. The canal was supposed to be built from the Amu Darya River to the Caspian port, Krasnovodsk (now Türkmenbaşy) – for the development of cotton growing and for shipping from the Volga to Amu Darya. The construction lasted for the first five years, then the work stopped in 1955.
The book features colorful illustrations throughout. It was designed by Soviet animator A. Vasin. He is known for contribution to the Ekran studio (Moscow) and the Moldova-film studio (Chișinău). In particular, he took part in the production of “Little Stork Kich” (1971) and “Anansi the Spider and a Magic Wand” (1973).
The book contains children’s verses written by Jewish poet and songwriter Mikhail Ruderman (1905–1984). Born in Poltava, he studied in Kharkiv and moved to Moscow in the mid-1920s. Initially, Ruderman worked for major Soviet newspapers but turned to children’s poems in the late 1920s. In 1930, two films of his screenplay were directed at the Uzbekgoskino [Uzbek State Film Studio].

Worldcat shows the only copy in Stanford University.

Price: $450.00