The Ural mountain range with its unique assortment of minerals runs 2,000 kilometres north and south, from the Kara to the Caspian Sea, and forms the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia. With its manifold riches, my native Urals is like a gem which gleams with a thousand magic lights whatever way you turn it.

It is a land of science, industry and agriculture. It has hydropower stations, mines, ferrous and nonferrous, chemical and other industries. The Urals is synonymous with will-power and strength, work and dreams, with majestic landscapes and incalculable mineral riches.

This book does not contain exhaustive information about the Ural range. I simply wanted to describe the construction sites, forests and mountains which I had seen in the course of my voyages. I invite you to make these trips with me so that you may come to sense the atmosphere of the Urals and appreciate its singular features and the great role which it is playing in the life of the Soviet Union.

Translated from the Russian by David Fidion

All credits to Guptaji

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Contents

THOSE BAFFLING STONES

The First Trip
In the Darkness of Eternal Night
Do Stones Grow 9
The Vanished Lake 13
At the Edge of the Cave-in 14
Drip-Drip 17
An Underground Wanderer 23
Subterranean Castles 25
What the Caves Tell 31
A Subterranean Fine Arts Museum 33

The Second Trip
Reading a Stone Chronicle
How Stones Shoot 38
The Pine and the Chipmunk 40
Granite Bowls 45
Bowls Again 46
Sem Bratyev 52
The Mystery Still Unravelled 54
Stone Giants 57
Nature’s Geological Laboratory 63
A Stone Preserve 71

The Third Trip
The Urals Flings Open Its Storehouses
Treasures of the Stone Belt 77
The Thrill of the First Discovery 79
Mountains of Iron and Rivers of Fire 81
A Region Rediscovered 83
Kachkanar 85
Like Ships Sailing over Tree-tops 87
The Urals Forges Victory 91

A TOWN OF WORKERS’ GLORY
The First Projection Metallurgical 96
The Second Projection Engineering 99
The Third Projection Chemical 101
Through the Magnifying Glass of Time 103

A VOYAGE ABOARD THE MAYAKOVSKY
The voyage begins On the eve of great accomplishments The end of the Kama Fleet 109
How old is the Mayakovsky Before a sea is born 114
Orel-Gorodok, former capital of the Stroganov domain Captain Pirozhkov’s exploit A city of chemists A gift from the Permean Sea 121
Where rafts are made Kama forests The Vishera 128
Krasnovishersk of paper fame Polyudov Kamen The return trip 132
Cherdyn Ilya Lunegov Floating memorial 135
What was in the archaeologist’s suitcase From the depths of the centuries Legendary Biarmaland 138
Pozhva, town of the first Russian steamships Last glance at the river 144
The Kama today The Kama Sea Oil islands Legend about the golden idol A look into the future 146

SILVER WINGS
On the track of old discoveries Little Red Riding Hood 167
The Grim Year of 1941 170
The Urals Aluminium Plant 172
The Battle for Aluminium 174
The Bogoslovsk Aluminium Plant 176

END OF THE TRIP
Sverdlovsk 183