2 Cassettes read by John Rowe
John Rowe reads Colin Thubron's compelling account of his journey through the frozen wastes of Russia's wild east. In 1997, he set off to explore this extraordinary country which covers one-twelfth of the world's mass and where the temperature can sink to -98 degrees F From Yekaterinburg, where the last Tsar of Russia and his family were murdered in 1918, to the far eastern city of Magadan, Thubron meets many unique characters including a scientist marooned in Kruschev's purpose-built town of Akademgorodok, a shaman and a Rasputin look-a-like.
Colin Thubron's vivid prose draws a fascinating picture of a fierce yet beautiful land where for centuries prisoners and political dissidents have struggled against the harsh elements.
