1 comments about BETWEEN EAST AND WEST: ACROSS THE BORDERLANDS OF EUROPE.

1. If you have Eastern European roots, this is a fascinating book. Ms. Applebaum has done a brilliant job of describing life in a region where half a dozen cultures have lived side by side

5 comments about The Fire Escape Is Locked for Your Safety: On the Road in the Former Soviet Union.

1. Try to imagine a travelogue authored by a collaboration of Franz Kafka, George Orwell and Mel Brooks.



2. Whether read as adventure, current affairs, or practical guide to
   "Russia" on Five Million Roubles A Day, Molly J. Baier's account of her trek across the former Soviet Union is informative and fun. In the interest of disclosure (and bragging)I attended the same school; Molly was competitive, curious, and excelled at everything she put her hand to. Thus, I am not surprised at the accomplishments that have culminated in her first book. A successful lawyer, fluent in Russian and German, she worked for two years to reform and bolster the rule of law in Ukraine. As if this were just an appetizer, she set off alone - in the daring manner of Victorian trailblazer, Isabella Bird - to discover and uncover the essence of a rapidly changing landscape. In its analyis, wit, and eye for detail, the book is both evocative and provocative. It is a good Christmas present for anyone desiring to learn about other cultures at a time when such knowledge is necessary rather than frivolous.



3. Molly Baier traveled 12,000 miles and kept a daily journal of her experiences as she traveled through the Ukraine, Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union. She has a wonderful way of sharing her experiences as she had to check into hotels, buy tickets on trains and buses, prevent people from overcharging her for being a foreigner, hold on to her passport, etc. trying to overcome poverty and bureaucracy and petty thievery. She also relates meetings with friends who welcomed her into their homes and shared whatever they had with her. For anyone who wants to gain insight into the real conditions inside Russia today, this is a good place to start. It is filled with humor, honesty and careful descriptions and analysis of current conditions.



4. This was a fascinating, humorous read (from a Western point of view), and I wish it had been a few hundred pages longer! Two highlights: finding an internet connection, and a Russian woman's view of President Clinton. I admire the author's chutzpah; (what a crusader!), armed with a copy of the Russian Consitution, she challenged the unfair and illegal pricing that she met at every stop. Excellent job, Ms. Baier.



5. It's a good book, but not quite what I expected when I made the purchase. The author writes about her trip in 1999 through the Ukraine, Belarus Lithuani, Latavia, Estonia, Finland, and then across Russia to Vladivostok. She writes snapshot views into her journey, and while the snapshots are presented in cronological order they don't always connect. For example, in one chapter she's riding a train. The next opens with her getting off a bus. The book doesn't cover the sites she's there to visit, but instead focuses in on the journey itself.

   If you're looking for some light reading about traveling, this book fits the bill. Only most people are more interested in what happens at each stop on the trip, and don't need to know the details of catching the train, checking into the hotel, or attempting to deal with getting a visa registered or hotels to stamp the visa. Some of the detail is useful, as the process *is* different and could be mind-bending for someone not prepared for it.

   I was also shaking my head as we see the author (who is making the trip after a multi-year business trip to help reform Russia) attempting to use legaleze to force people to give her the same price as a Russian citizen. (It's expected that forigners will pay more for things like hotels, bus tickets, train rides, etc. Forget the clause in the Russian Constitution -- no one abides by it. Which is what the author finally realizes after weeks of arguing.)

No comments about Russian Ride.

1 comments about Alexander I Emperor of Russia.

1. This is an unusual book in that the author is not a traditional historian. So the approach, such as the continual criticism of other histories or the strange preface and unusual bibliography, can be forgiven.
   
   The author provides a good history here. She includes some information on Russia that others do not. What is the reappraisal? The author is just another who tries, with some success, to explain away the negatives of this strange and fascinating Tsar. So we have another good apologist.
   
   This is worth checking out.

No comments about Between East and West: Polish and Russian Nineteenth-Century Travel to the Orient (Rochester Studies in Central Europe) (Rochester Studies in Central Europe).

No comments about Russia!: The Majesty Of The Tsars.

No comments about Across the Sleeping Land: A Journey Through Russia.

No comments about Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor: And the Russian Acquisitions on the Confines of India and China.

No comments about Moscow (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

No comments about In Siberia.