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The border : a journey around Russia : through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway and the Northeast Passage

by Fatland, Erika, 1983-

Format: Print Book 2021
Availability: Available at 2 Libraries 2 of 4 copies

Available (2)
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CLP - Main Library Mezzanine - Non-fiction DK66.F3813 2021x
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Mezzanine - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  DK66.F3813 2021x
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Travel Collection 914.7 Fat
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Travel Collection
 
Call Number  914.7 Fat
 
 
 
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CLP - South Side Non-Fiction Collection ON HOLDSHELF
Location  CLP - South Side
 
Collection  Non-Fiction Collection
 
Status  ON HOLDSHELF
 
 
Sewickley Public Library Nonfiction CHECKED OUT
Location  Sewickley Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
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Summary
The acclaimed author of Sovietistan travels along the seemingly endless Russian border and reveals the deep and pervasive influence it has had across half the globe.

Imperial, communist or autocratic, Russia has been--and remains--a towering and intimidating neighbor. Whether it is North Korea in the Far East through the former Soviet republics in Asia and the Caucasus, or countries on the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea. What would it be like to traverse the entirety of the Russian periphery to examine its effects on those closest to her?

An astute and brilliant combination of lyric travel writing and modern history, The Borde r is a book about Russia without its author ever entering Russia itself. Fatland gets to the heart of what it has meant to be the neighbor of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. As we follow Fatland on her journey, we experience the colorful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations along with their cultures, their people, their landscapes.

Sharply observed and wholly absorbing, The Border is a surprising new way to understand a broad part our world.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "More expansive than the circumference of the earth itself, Russia's border is the longest in the world. Fatland has strung together the histories of the 14 countries along this border to create a detailed mosaic of Russia's influence on its neighbors. She journeyed over two years from North Korea, where she was allowed in on a highly regulated trip under the guise of a tourist, to Norway, where Russia is a short shopping trip away. Whether spotting the onion dome of St. Sophia's Church in China or viewing the Stalin souvenirs on offer at the museum behind his humble brick home in Georgia, Fatland finds traces of Russia's influence are everywhere. The power of Russia is particularly evident in the stories Fatland hears from the people she meets, such as the Mongolian man whose grandfather hid all signs of his Buddhist faith after Stalin's crackdown and who became a monk himself at 13 years old in 1992, once it was legal again. Fatland offers a comprehensive look at the places and people impacted by their enormous next-door neighbor."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this ambitious travelogue, journalist Fatland (Sovietistan) documents her multiyear odyssey along Russia's 60,932-kilometer-long border with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. Noting that Norway is "the only one of its 14 neighbors that has not been invaded or at war with Russia in the past five hundred years," Fatland ask "what does it mean to have the world's largest country as your neighbor?" She answers with colorful accounts of her experiences and observations cruising the ice-crusted Northeast Passage (which makes up two-thirds of Russia's boundary), riding horseback in Mongolia ("The Siberian wind... was unrelenting and cut through all the layers of wool until I could no longer feel my legs"), and kayaking the waterways between Norway and Russia ("The river gurgled; every now and then a big fat salmon would leap up"). She also provides a dense history of each place she visits, including sites of recent conflict, such as Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and weaves her travel narrative with stories of people whose lives have been affected by Russia's geopolitical ambitions. Armchair adventurers and Russian history buffs are in for a treat. Photos. (Feb.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Fatland, Erika, -- 1983- -- Travel.
Soviet Union -- Foreign relations.
Russia (Federation) -- Foreign relations.
Russia (Federation) -- Description and travel.
Korea (North) -- Description and travel.
China -- Description and travel.
Mongolia -- Description and travel.
Kazakhstan -- Description and travel.
Azerbaijan -- Description and travel.
Georgia (Republic) -- Description and travel.
Ukraine -- Description and travel.
Belarus -- Description and travel.
Lithuania -- Description and travel.
Poland -- Description and travel.
Latvia -- Description and travel.
Estonia -- Description and travel.
Finland -- Description and travel.
Norway -- Description and travel.
Northeast Passage -- Description and travel.
Travel writing.
Publisher New York :Pegasus Books,2021
Edition First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Other Titles Grensen.
Contributors Dickson, Kari, translator.
Language English
Notes Translation of: Grensen.
Description 611 pages : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 599-602) and index.
ISBN 9781643136561
1643136569
Other Classic View