Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People

by JonathanDimbleby (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $3.25

  Winston Churchill famously described Russia as 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. Even today it remains a country little understood by the West. But as a resurgent world power, with an energy-rich economy, we ignore Russia at our peril. In this timely and revealing portrait, distinguished author and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby crosses eight time zones and covers 10,000 miles, from Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to the Asian city of Vladivostok, in an attempt to get beneath the skin of modern Russia. Travelling by road, rail and boat, his epic journey takes him from the neo-classical splendour of St Petersburg to remote and inaccessible parts of Siberia. At the heart of this magisterial account are Jonathan's encounters with a diverse range of ordinary Russians - from urban intellectuals and the new class of entrepreneurs, to impoverished peasants and Russia's ethnic minorities struggling to cling to their distinctive identities.Jonathan was the only British television journalist to interview President Gorbachev during the Cold War, and, returning to Russia for the first time since those days, he discovers a land transformed. But despite economic progress, he finds aspects of Russian society deeply troubling, and takes an unflinchingly critical look at the way Russia has been run during the Putin years. For Jonathan, crossing the immense Russian landmass became as much an interior journey as an exterior one, and the book contains painfully honest passages as he struggles to meet the challenges of an arduous film trip against the backdrop of great turbulence in his personal life. Filled with a dazzling array of historical and literary references, Russia - A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People is a riveting and illuminating account of modern Russia.

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.25

  Winston Churchill described Russia as 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. His observation is as accurate today as ever. In Russia, highly respected author and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby sets off on an epic journey to get beneath the skin of this vast and mysterious country. Dimbleby was the only British journalist to interview President Gorbachev during the Cold War, and, returning to the country for the first time since those days, he discovers a land transformed. Russia has a dramatic and violent past, and a culture rich in world-famous artists, writers and musicians. With control over a huge portion of the world's remaining non-renewable energy resources, it is a rapidly rising energy superpower, with a swiftly modernizing economy. Yet, it is also a place of corruption, repression and secrecy, little understood by the rest of world. Travelling thousands of miles from Murmansk in the Arctic Circle to the Asian city of Vladivostok, Dimbleby crosses seven time zones and passes through some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth. His journey takes him from the Baroque splendour of St Petersburg to remote and inaccessible parts of Siberia.Along the way he encounters a fascinating range of people, from high-society Muscovites to rural peasants, as he immerses himself in Russian culture.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $18.83

  Winston Churchill famously described Russia as 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' and even today it remains a country little understood by the West. In this revealing portrait, Jonathan Dimbleby crosses eight time zones and covers 10,000 miles in an attempt to get to the beating heart of the new Russia. His epic journey takes him from the Arctic city of Murmansk in the west to the Asian port of Vladivostok in the east, and he encounters an extraordinary range of people: urban intellectuals and entrepreneurs, war veterans and migrant labourers, spiritual leaders and aging rock stars, bootleg vendors and fish poachers, loggers in the forests of Siberia and fellow journalists under siege in an increasingly autocratic society. Russia is both a deeply personal odyssey and a mesmerizing account of a country undergoing profound economic, cultural and political change.