Open Lands : Travels Through Russia's Once Forbidden Places
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Mark Taplin went to Russia in 1984, a junior-level diplomat sent deep into Cold War land. He tells of the map he studied, colored green for the few cities where foreigners were allowed, and omnipresent red for "Stay Away." In 1992 Taplin returned. Russia and the U.S. had signed an "Open Lands" agreement allowing free travel, and Taplin wanted to explore the lands that taunted and haunted him from the map eight years before. The result is a book you can't put down, an informed look at a complex country. Russia requires more than a casual eye and pen to sort through the contradictions, and Taplin excels in both.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Brian Hall
Mark Taplin's Open Lands is a first effort with sufficient intelligence and wit to promise good things, but it displays weaknesses common to the genre: It has some adventure, some social history, some contemporary reportage and some fine writing but not enough of any one of them. Taplin set himself a task that perhaps no one could really do justice to.... Throughout Open Lands there are indications that, equipped with better material, Taplin could produce a fine book. Some of his writerly touches are compact and lovely, and he has a playful subversive wit that breaks out at surprising moments....
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Open Lands : Travels Through Russia's Once Forbidden Places
Open Lands : Travels Through Russia's Once Forbidden Places,Mark Taplin,Steerforth,1883642876,1957-,Description,Description and travel,Essays & Travelogues,Journeys,Russia,Russia (Federation),Taplin, Mark,,Travel,Travel - Foreign,Travel & holiday guides,Travel / Russia,Travel writing
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