They might have said goodbye to the USSR – but can they ever say farewell to Russia? With thanks to Leticia for her review.
A non-fiction read collecting insights and experiences from the post-Soviet region isn’t my usual genre – but this proved a surprising read!
As someone who’s previous awareness of the USSR was an outdated version of Risk and the modern politics of who votes or who does not vote for whom in Eurovision, there is a sizeable portion of this history that I didn’t know before the events of 2022 and I did read this from a viewpoint of geo-political ignorance.
There is a comic and conversational mood to the book that keeps it personable and curious. Well done to the cover artist for giving this the edge to pick it up off the shelf, and to do the flick through to realise that to give this a go.
Described as a travelogue, it is one man’s journey through the 15 former Soviet states. It’s difficult to know what bias a Western observer may or may not offer here, but it is a perspective that goes beyond that of a tourist. Each chapter explores a country, grouped by geography, which makes sense with the realisation that the landscape and neighbours are so affecting. The flow comes from the observations and descriptions, and the journey is two-fold; alongside the comparisons between the countries themselves, their shared histories and changing futures, the people give this read spirit. The retelling of the conversations and people Joe connected with and met along the way, often along with that country’s liquid spirit.
It isn’t only Russia in play now either, 35 years since dissolution the consequences are still ongoing, the West and China are contesting for that influence and attention too.
It scratches the surface but I do feel a little less ignorant after this read, and surprised myself appreciating it as well.
About the Book
Snow, concrete, the KGB: that’s the cliché of the Soviet Union. But its collapse in 1991 sparked a story at once messier and more compelling than any stereotype. Thirty-five years on, Moscow may brim with champagne bars and blacked-out Mercedes – but what became of the other fourteen states that emerged from the ashes?In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Joe Luc Barnes crossed the former USSR to find out, from the gleaming towers of Azerbaijan to the former gulags of Kazakhstan, tech-hungry Estonia to the minarets of Uzbekistan.
Along the way, he finds epic mountains, cobblestoned old towns and storied Silk Road cities – not to mention Georgian wine, Armenian brandy and vodka in industrial supply.Travelling thousands of miles, he gathers a chorus of voices: nomads in mountain yurts, TikTok-fuelled activists, small-town taxi drivers and many who still look uneasily over their shoulder for the secret police.
With insight, empathy and a healthy dose of mordant wit, he asks what has happened – and why – to the people and their hopes and dreams since the great promise of independence.By turns hilarious, angry and heart-stopping, this is a darkly comic, deeply human portrait of a region the West still misunderstands – and a warning of what happens when empires break but the habits of empire refuse to die.
About The Author
Joe Luc Barnes spent six years living in former Soviet countries from 2014, has a Master’s in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford and now reports from the region as a journalist in English, Russian and French language media, including the Financial Times; Nikkei; The Diplomat; and the Times of Central Asia. This includes reporting over the past year from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. He has visited all fifteen former USSR republics since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. He spends his time between London and Almaty.
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