Driving Down Russia's Spine: Tracking the Russian Soul from the Arctic to the Black Sea
About this ebook
But this book is far more than just a travel essay. For it intertwines fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. It is a story told with humor and with the insight derived from the author’s three decades of intimate interactions with Russia.
Among the many interesting stories in the book:
An expedition to “The Well to Hell”
A music school in one of the most polluted towns on earth
An energetic youth activist branded as a foreign agent
Russia’s largest manufacturer of barbells (who also makes cloudberry preserves)
A roadside berry seller recently paroled from prison
A blacksmith who is a Jehovah’s Witness
A bone-chilling trip to the foundation place of the Russian state
The slightly off-kilter leader of St. Petersburg’s Cossack community
A retired village doctor who can’t stop working, because he won’t be replaced
A piece of Nebraska transplanted into the middle of Russia’s Black Earth region
There were also craft beer makers, ballroom dancers, policemen, restaurant owners, an opera student, a priest, a single mother, an accessibility activist, teachers, docents, a best-selling author, soap makers, journalists, a sailor, a winemaker, and a woman taking on the male-dominated world of Russian hockey. And no trip to Russia would be complete without a run-in with security officials in leather jackets. So there is also that.
Taken together, the stories from this epic road trip create a compelling portrait of Russia and its people. The book could not be more timely; recent events show how vital it is for Americans to continue working to understand Russia.
About the author
A journalist and editor, Paul Richardson was one of the first westerners working in Russia during the heady joint-venture days in 1989-90, and has been traveling to and writing about Russia ever since. He is author of Russia Survival Guide: Business & Travel (seven editions), three novels, and a humor book on running (Running is Flying, Rodale, 2012). He is the Editor of Russian Life magazine and has edited over two-dozen books of fiction and non-fiction, including two translations that have won the annual award for best translation of the year from Russian into English. He is an experienced photographer and an unrepentant runner.
