Among the Russians

In 1980, Russia was part of the U.S.S.R. Leonid Brezhnev was approaching the end of his long tenure as leader of the country, and Communism was still the dominant political ideology. In the summer of that year, Colin Thubron began a ten thousand-mile journey through the heart of Western Russia.

Thubron brings readers down the quiet country roads of Western Russia, through the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad), and into the heart of the land that Winston Churchill called “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Among the Russians is a beautifully written travelogue that also provides fresh perspective on the last tumultuous years of the Soviet Union.

Colin Thubron is the author of many highly praised travel books and novels. His awards include the Hawthornden Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, and the Silver Pen Award for fiction. He lives in London.

“Superb … one of the best books on Russia to appear in years.” — New York Times Book Review