https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2014/11/27/sneaking-behind-the-iro... ( )

What an awful, inept book. The worst I have read by a western travel writer on Russia. Published in 1964 it is now a work of history as much as a travelogue. Mr Van der Post has something of a reputation as a travel writer but in this book he is well out of his depths. He achieves nothing more than an extended monologue worthy of the golf club bar room expert who knows everything about everything.

His 'journey' is nothing more than extended Intourist holiday. The Russians he meets are waiters and taxi drivers. His research is reading nineteenth century classics of Russian literature. He starts with a dislike and a lack of understanding of the soviet system and reinforces his views as the book progresses. He displays Victorian, racist views in his analysis of the world. Not surprising that he grew up in apartheid South Africa though he opposed the system.

The book is now just a historical curiosity. It has its value as a reminder of the cold war and its impact on how people viewed the world and some of the peculiarities of the soviet system. But it tells us nothing about Russia that isn't much better told elsewhere. ( )