River Fleet: The History of the Russian Empire's and the Soviet Union's River Fleet

Everyone loves the sea fleet. But Russia is a river power, and the true fleet of Russia, one of the greatest in the world, is the river fleet. However, society hardly notices it. That is, it does not notice the country in which it lives.
Rus transformed into Russia, spreading along the rivers. Pioneers traveled on cord boats and barges, planks and boats. Peter I turned his state into an empire and built the first canals for the capital, and Catherine II, continuing Peter's work, established navigation rules on them. Later, these rules were extended to all rivers of the Motherland. Thus, from a motley mass of river vessels, a "regular" fleet was formed. The river fleet.
The first Russian steamboat was a riverboat, and the first motor ship was too. The country has always lacked roads, and progress made its way into Russia along the rivers. It was carried by river vessels. Advanced technologies, industrial, economic, and social, first appeared in the river fleet. The river fleet participated in all matters of the homeland. The peasants freed from serfdom went to work on steamboats, and the first companies were shipping companies. The heyday of capitalism was characterized by river trusts and syndicates. The Civil War was battles of river armored fleets. Their vessels were part of the bravura Stakhanov movement, grand industrialization projects, and the harsh Gulag. During the Great Patriotic War, river vessels evacuated thousands of factories and millions of people, and river ships fought the enemy on the fronts. The post-war flourishing of the USSR was the flourishing of the river fleet when gigantic bulk carriers moved along the rivers, passenger liners sailed proudly, and vessels with hydrofoils flew swiftly.
This book tells not only about the development of the river fleet but also about the people who created the river history of Russia. About the inner workings of river life. About its interconnections with politics and culture. About the disasters that shook the country and the river fleet. About amazing projects and fantastic dreams. About the inseparable kinship between the common man and the river steamboat. After all, this book tells about the fate and soul of the nation, because a ship is always both fate and soul.