Description

A journey along the seemingly endless Russian border – from North Korea in the Far East through Russia’s bordering states in Asia and the Caucasus, crossing the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea along the way.

“Erika Fatland [is] shaping up to be one of the Nordics’ most exciting new travel writers” National Geographic

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORDS DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**

“A hauntingly lyrical meditation to the contingencies of history” Wall Street Journal

“[An] impressive mix of history, reportage and travel memoir” Washington Post

The Border is a book about Russia and Russian history without its author ever entering Russia itself; a book about being the neighbour of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. It is a chronicle of the colourful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations, their cultures, their people, their landscapes.

Through her last three documentary books – one about terrorism in Beslan, one about the 2011 terror attacks in Norway and one about post-Soviet Central Asia – social anthropologist Erika Fatland has established herself as a sharp observer and an outstanding interviewer at the forefront of Nordic non-fiction.

Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson

Publisher Review

The Border is like a kinderegg, it is a travel book, a history book, and a biography of people we normally do not hear much about but to whom we become close through Fatland's long Odyssey. * V.G. * Masterly . . . A Norwegian Marco Polo . . . The lines of force of history become clear thanks to this thorough and well-written book by one of our best and most original young nonfiction authors. * Dagbladet * The strength of Fatland's second travel book lies in its ability to make history come alive through stories . . . Well-informed, precise, astute in its restraint, entertaining, balanced and not without the occasional dose of gentle irony - every chapter written by this border-crosser, who doesn't shy away from any ordeal, is captivating reading. -- Renate Nimtz-Koester * Sueddeutsche Zeitung * Truly a masterly performance . . . The book has so many qualities that it is impossible to mention them all. Fatland masters the genre to perfection . . . The Border transcends all borders. Reading it is a true delight. * Aftenposten *