July 19th, 2022

July Nonfiction Book Review

by Marjorie Thelen

 The Border – by Erika Fatland (Find it at the Harney County Library & in the catalog here)
 
This book will appeal to readers who like history, international politics, and armchair travel.  It’s well-written and researched by a young Norwegian travel journalist who visited all those countries listed in the title over an eight-month period in 2016. She wanted to learn how Russia has influenced the enormous region it borders upon. Fatland talked about Russia with everyone she met along the way. She relates many amazing, troubling, and shocking stories about what an aggressive bully Russia has been with its neighbors since the start of the tsars in the 15th century. Borders over the centuries changed so many times it makes the head spin. The tsars, the Soviets, and the communists killed or deported millions of people who got in their way and leveled whole towns. Putin is following the same mold. If you want to understand the current war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, read this book. It is an eye opener.
 
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