A review by jon_mckenney
The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway and the Northeast Passage by Erika Fatland

4.0

Super ambitious and I think she nails it. Does exactly what it sets out to do-- travel through the 14+ countries that border RU. Sometimes she would seem to lose the central question ("What has Russia's impact been on her neighbors?") and just drift into telling us about the country's current affairs and history. Like with all books of this length, she repeats herself frequently. Strongest sections/ most interesting had a lot of overlap, in particular DPRK and Ukraine's chapters. I think Finland and Norwegian sections were not stellar. At the end, when she starts to muse that "Russia will not survive and will inevitably fracture" was a weird conclusion and seemed to slip into some classic Russo-phobia. All in all, great read.