Red Odyssey: A Journey Through the Soviet Republics

by Marat Akchurin

Release Date: May, 1992

Edition: Hardcover

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Through Central Asia as the USSR crumbles

Marat Akchurin ' an Uzbek poet and man of letters - set off on a tour of the Central Asian republics, just as the Soviet Union was crumbling into extinction. This is the travelog of his journey through states and countries that were being thrown into turmoil. It's fascinating, partly because he's an Uzbek and therefore able to go to places where westerners can't, and partly because he went there just at the time the split was getting into full swing.

Even in those days, the Central Asia republics weren't particularly happy places. Ethnic cleansing in Uzbekistan & Kirghistan rivalled anything we've seen in recent years in the former Yugoslavia. Destitution was rife as the final death throws of central planning removed any regularity and certainty from life. And the withdrawal of Soviet troops meant that gangs, mafia and warlord factions were rife. Akturin had a number of lucky escapes from mafioso along the way.

His travels also take the reader thorough the fascinating old Moghul/Silk Road cities of Alma-Ata (now Almaty), Samarkand and Tashkent. You'd be hard pressed to describe them as either glamorous or affluent these days. He finally ends up in Baku, a former naval base for the Imperial Russian navy, and the place where Russian agents used to set off on their journey's across the steppes to fight their covert war against the British Raj.

The style is free flowing and extremely readable. He may be a poet, but this is factual travel writing with an eye for fascinating detail. The translator has done a fine job in bringing Red Odyssey to an English speaking audience. The maps of his travels are also very good. Four stars.