Burnaby, a classic hero/adventurer type, was the 19th Century's Indiana Jones. His book, a popular sensation when first published in the mid 1800s, chronicles his exciting, dangerous, and sometimes humorous horseback and sleigh/carriage ride from southern Russia to Khiva, in what was then an independant khanate in Central Asia, in the middle of winter. If you like exciting, true adventure travel tales, you owe it to yourself to see this book. A standard by which all subsequent narratives should be measured

South central Asia, the focus of the world's attention in 2003, received an earlier share of it in the 1870s. For centuries travelers' tales and the mention of such exotic names as Samarcand, Tashkent and Bokhara had aroused interest and fired imaginations. To all this was added rumor in 1875 that British interests in India were threatened by Russian expansionism. In particular, it was believed that Russian forces were massing in the recently occupied city of Khiva, nowadays in Uzbekistan, in preparation for an invasion of India.

A situation like this fitted perfectly the kind of 'investigative reporting' adventures that Frederick Burnaby craved. In 1876, this 33-year-old captain in the British army took leave of absence, and set out for Khiva. The journey involved a ride of over one thousand miles in well below freezing conditions across steppes and wastelands.

On his return, Burnaby wrote 'A Ride to Khiva' and it instantly became a best seller. A well-educated man, proficient in many languages, and a keen observer of all he encountered, his account still ranks as one of the great adventure classics of literature.

I am grateful to the neighbor who lent me this book, and can report that reading it has provided many hours of fascination. Burnaby died ten years after writing this book, supposedly during a massacre in the Sudan. Keen Internet browsers might find reference to a recent revelation that throws doubt upon the truth of the official account of his death.

This is an exciting adventure book, writen in 1876 about the travels of a British Army Captain through Western Siberia into Khiva, a city in Central Asia recently taken by the Russian Empire. It purports to be just travel by an army man at liesure, and wanting to see parts of the world. Since we are in the "Great Game" era, when Britain and Russia were contending for the countries around India, I have the feeling that it was more than that, and that the author's mission was somewhat akin to "checking out the land" in the case of an impending conflict. Anyway, it's extremely well-written, and the descriptions of both the places and the people are first rate! The author obviously had a keen eye, and I would really love to read the report he actually submitted to his superiors in London when he returned. I'm sure it's still buried deeply in their secret files.

John Lathrop Motley's history of the 40-year Dutch War of Independence (1568-1609)is a major work. The three-volume set called the "Rise of the Dutch Republic" is only part of the story, carrying the reader only up to the date of 1584 when the Constitution of the United Netherlands was implimented.

Motley later in 1874 added another four-volume set called "History of the United Netherlands" which brings the reader up to the date of 1609 when most of the fighting in the Netherlands between Spain and the Protestant nobles of the Nehterlands ended. Needless to it is a major commitment for the reader to get the whole story that Motley wants to tell. Indeed Motley could have told more. The official recognition of Dutch Independence did not come until Spain signed the Peace of the Hague in 1648 at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War (1619-1648).

Motley's outlook on the events covered in the seven volumes leaves no doubt that his sympathies lie with the Dutch. His bias is heavy handed and approaches propaganda. Still for the reader with the time and desire to learn about the history of the Dutch people the entire set is enlightening.

Although first written in 1856 the author applies a spell-binding style to tell the gruesome history of the birth of the Dutch nation from the unrelenting suppression of the religious and political aspirations of a sophisticated and rich people. In Volume I Motley covers the period from Emporer Charles V to the appointment of Count Alva as military overlord of the Netherlands. In Volume II he continues to describe in great detail the circumstances, personages, and intrigues that so painfully come together and nearly destroy the industrial and economic powerhouse in the low countries. He excellently explains the motives and actions of William of Orange, the follies of his noble friends and their destruction, the cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition, and, eventually, the rising of the people against the hated Alva and his mercenary murderers. It is the start of the 80 Year War of which this book covers the first seven bloody years.
Since I found this series in my father's book case and started reading I have not been able to put it down. The series take the reader to live the period and understand the human drama and the hope and perseverance that lift a population to found the most powerful nation in the world.

Today we do not think of historians as creative writers as such, but this is an attitude that has only grown up recently. Winston Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his historical writing, but it difficult to see any contemporary historian contending for such an honour. The historian's craft is so much seen now as a technical one, 'mastering the sources' is considered to be the summit of achievement in historical writing. Also, the historican has also to master some sociology, political science, and statistics, besides mere writing. Possibly, there is a lot of good in the modern attitude, but we have probably lost in many places, the art of good writing. Motley, like all his contemporaries except perhaps Parkman or Prescott, is not now considered a historian of the first rank. But, by God, the man could write! If you want the best modern account of the birth of the Netherlands as a modern nation state, read Geoffrey Parker's 'The Dutch Revolt'. However, if you enjoy a tale spun around a real-life hero, William the Silent, and how he led an embattled people to freedom, written in the finest prose, then this book is for you. Incidentally, some modern historians do still value the insights of their predecessors, like Macauley in Britain, but are probably their superior in research methodologies and interpretation. For me, in the art of writing, the likes of Motley, Prescott, Parkman, and Macauley are infinitely better!

If you're looking for a biography on an amazing baseball player who has become one of the most awsome home run hitters in baseball, check out Bill Gutman's biograpghy on Sosa. In the book Gutman talks about Sosa's early life, his quest to through baseball, and his career today. I chose to read this book because I am a huge baseball fan and like to read about the games stars. Anyone who likes baseball should like this book on Sammy Sosa.

Sammy Sosa was born in the Dominican Republic. He didn't start playing baseball until he was in high school. During high school he really didn't play much. When he went to college he played on a team. Then he got picked up by the Chicago White Sox. When he was with the white sox I new more about baseball then he did. But now that he is with the cubs he knows just as much about baseball that any other professional baseball player does. My likes and dislikes about the book are, well i don't have any dislikes about the book. I always enjoy reading biographies on my favorite sports stars. So over all the book was one of the best books I've ever read and i haven't read that many books in my life time.

If you compare this book about Sammy Sosa to another book i read about Michael Jordan and his airiness I think that Sammy Sosa was ten million times better. On a closing note the book was probably the best book i have ever read in my life time as I have said many other times earlier in my wonderful online book review.

When I read this book I did it cause I wanted to see if the information about our sammy was okay and yes it was. As a Dominican I'm feeling very proud of Sammy I know how he fought to be where he is now and To do that in this country is not easy. I was borned in Santo domingo and I live here with my parents and Sammy is the guy who inspire me to keep me going I wish I could meet him sooner or later.....That's my dream

Lee todo lo que puedas de Sammy que vale la pena y sentiras la motivacion de luchar, luchar y luchar.........

The emphasis here is on an attractive and somewhat cutesy presentation of tea and herbs very much in concert with Ron Rubin's The Republic of Tea retailing business. There are sidebar quotes from such anonymous "authors" as "The Minister of Travel," The Minister of Soil," The Minister of Herbs," etc., in frank imitation of Eastern mystical pronouncements. ("The Minister of Travel" is identified on the jacket as co-author Stuart Gold.) An example from page 72:

Who draws the water and boils it?
Who spoons the leaves from the tin and places them in the pot?
Who lifts the kettle and pours?
Who could be a greater friend?

This Zen and Taoist take on the consumption of tea is of course entirely appropriate. The Bodhidarma himself (legend has it) contributed his eyelids to the spawning of the first tea plant; and Zen and Taoist masters have from olden times used tea as an aid to meditation. Personally, as a long-time devotee myself, I believe that tea has mystical powers not easily quantified by modern science, and at any rate there is also a ceremonial and a devotional aspect to the drinking of tea than leads one to the quiet contemplation that makes for a life fully lived.

The text is easy to read and there are attractive thumbnail illustrations in green throughout. There are a few plugs for Rubin's company, but they are tastefully woven in. I must however call into question some of the information. For example on page 34 it is writ: "Homo erectus pekinensis, who lived in Southeast Asia where tea bushes grow wild, was boiling water and eating wild tea leaves more than 500,000 years ago." I would dearly like to see the reference for this supposition. (There are no footnotes.)

Also on page 20 it is claimed that white tea has "virtually no caffeine." I am having white tea myself this afternoon with lunch (Foojoy's Bai Mudan) which I have drunk many times before. I can say with complete confidence that it has noticeably more than "virtually no caffeine."

Indeed the whole question of the caffeine content of various teas seems a bit murky in this volume. On page 80 there is a table "Caffeine in Beverages" that indicates that five ounces of green tea contains 15 mg of caffeine while five ounces of black tea contains 40 mg. Needless to say it depends on which green or black tea you are talking about. Japanese green teas in my experience typically contain more caffeine that Chinese green teas. The caffeine in a typical Assam tea (a "black" tea) seems greater than in say Keemun the famous black tea from China. Furthermore, of course, it depends on how strong one brews one's tea and how long the leaves stay in the water and indeed at what temperature the water is when it hits the leaves.

Putting that aside and assuming such things are balanced, as I presume the authors do, consider this statement, also from page 80: "The more oxidized (or "fermented") the tea, the more caffeine it contains..."

I don't see how this can be true since the amount of caffeine in the bud and leaves does not gain from oxidation. It is not the processing of the tea (except for the deliberate removal of caffeine), but the tea leaves themselves that determine the amount of caffeine in the infusion. The authors imply that they know this when they end the paragraph with the observation that "The greatest concentration of caffeine...is in the bud and first two leaves of the tea bush."

I'm not even sure that this is correct. What IS correct is that the finer the tea the more likely it is to come from the bud and the first leaf or two, yet it will not be experienced as "strong"--which reveals perhaps a more important point about tea drinking: in the older leaves there is more tannin, and it is the experience of tannin that seems "strong" and bitter. The finest teas have only a hint of tannin and not a bit of bitterness.

Putting these peccadilloes aside, this is an attractive book that would make a nice gift for tea and herb lovers. For those who drink nothing but Lipton, it will be an eye-opener deluxe.

Being new to the joy of tea drinking, this was a great introduction. Great chapters on the history of tea, the many varieties, and the basics for brewing a cup. I highly recommend it and their wonderful tea.

Although I haven't totally abandoned my coffee---and my coffee lifestyle---the Republic of Tea's products and mission have brought a growing serenity to my everyday outlook. The sip-by-sip culture centered around the "event" of taking tea has been a release valve for my frenetic pace.

This book helped me appreciate the inner-workings---not just the taste---of tea. I will keep it next to my teapot where it will serve a valuable reference to this ageless beverage.

The documentation provided was good, but the plates were a bit disappointing. I would have liked more detailed views, but this is a subject that is extremely difficult to pursue and often the information simply does not exist. The uniforms of this period were often gaudy and impractical, but oddly enough the Republic was able to buy the most up-to-date weapons and equipment. The image of the buckskin clad, fur capped backwoodsman is a myth when it comes to the Texas Republic. As time marches on, hopefully more information will surface. For students of this period, I would recommend this book.

Sir Bruce Marshall has provided a significant historical service to the followers of Texas, Texans and those who follow them with the publication of this tome of authenticity. Never before has there been available to historians a reference of the many impressive uniforms worn by the various military services of the nation of Texas. In the short ten year life of that republic, its admirable uniforms are only a representation of its many accomplishments before signing its treaty of annexation with the federal government. The fact that Marshall both edited and illustrated the book personally only adds to its impressiveness.

This book is pictorially and historically a masterpiece at depicting the uniforms of the Texas Republic even though it only existed as an independent nation for ten years. It helps us in the North to better understand the fraternity and even occasional superciliousness of Texans and why the Presidents Bush emulate and claim them. The pictures in this book are a treat to the eyes of those who enjoy the military history of other countries.

What happens when business people start to act like 5 year olds at the playground - I'm taking my ball and going home. This is a great story about the desire of American Express to move into the world of private banking and the bank they tried to by - Republic Bank run by Mr. Saffra. Not only does the book provide us this weird story but also it gives the reader a great back ground on these two companies - the American Express information was very interesting. The story of the two companies coming together and then having a lovers spat is just darn interesting and a little tabloid TV. The book keeps your interest and is a nice little find if you pick it up.

Burrough's fabulous research is rarely matched, the marvelous style is consistent with his previous work on 'Barbarians at The Gate'. Few business authors will thrill you as much as Burroughs or James B. Stewart.

The story of how the custodian (Jim Robinson) of one the worlds most recognized names, American Express launched a defamation campaign against a Swiss banker (Edmond Safra). Their efforts would've succeeded if they didn't rely upon an eccentric master of PR (Harry Freeman), a neurotic conspiracy theorist (Susan Cantor) and what could only be described as weasel of a man (Tony Greco)to execute it all.

The portrayal of Safra as an innocent is a bit misleading. Admittedly he took advantage of his post holocaust Jewish peers by purchasing their gold for obscenely below market prices to resell at market prices. In addition, Safra isn't without blame in American Express's paranoia that he would exercise unscrupolous tactics himself.

Read the book to find out why.

I am a fan of the authors writing in general. If you're a person who enjoys reading stories in the Wall Street Journal etc then this book may very well be for you (the author works at WSJ).

This is a fascinating story of international intrigue and business. The author provides historical background for both AmEx and Mr Saffra and then proceeds into the meat of the story.

What's interesting here is that the Vendetta alluded to in the title raises some serious ethical questions on the part of some folks. All I'll say is as you read it do a name search on the web and see where some of them are today, it's not the poor house and it's not jail either.

The book exposes high finance, high power, bare knuckled business street fighting taken to an internation stage.

Before this book, I never knew about the Jewish ghetto in Prague, where Jews lived for hundreds of years, barely making much contact with the outside world, and when they did, facing great discrimination along the way. Rivka, the main character, is consistered to be part of the upper class in the ghetto. Her father is a doctor, and she is set to marry a man who everyone loves- except her, for she doesn't even know him. After seeing a bit of the outer world of the ghetto on an errand with her father, she decides she must go again...but this time she'll go as a Gentile boy. However, the outside is so tempting, and Rivka finds herself drawn out again and again. She just can't get caught.

Picked up a copy of this book from the local ... store. I had been out of town for about three months and had missed the authors personal appearance at the local store in April

I was a student in one of the authors classes a couple of years ago. I was impressed then by her ability to show her students how to paint vivid scenes in the minds of their readers. She has applied this skill to Rivkas's Way.

The best comments are from my 14 year old granddaughter who just finished the book a few minutes ago. Her words; "Grandpa, the description of the forest that Rivka saw was so real in my mind that I felt like I was there." Can anyone offer greater praise?

I read the book in one sitting. I could not put it down. It is a short book because there is no flab in it. The words are used frugally, but conveying thought and feeling clearly; not needing the sauce of extra adjectives or phrases.

I am looking forward to more books by Teri that touch the heart as this one did. My grandaughter is waiting too...

This book although written for young girls is a good read even for a 50 something grandfather. I was looking for something to give my granddaughters, 9 and 12, for summer vacation reading and found Rivka's Way. The descriptive passages made me feel not only like I was in a different country and different time but in a different mind set that made me think of all the changes people have gone through, as well as all the changes young girls go through. It is fun reading and a wonderful learning experience, sharing history and traditions without sounding like a history book. I can highly recommend this book as I bought three, one for each of my grandaughters and one for a friend's daughter. (She was so proud, it was her first 'big' book.)

The Roman Conquest of Italy is a purely academic look at the social, economic, and political factors that led to the Romanization of the Italian peninsula. There is little of conquest here. Jean-Michel David scrupulously avoids anything remotely resembling conquest in his quest to beat the reader about the head and shoulders with the recitation of place names and peoples, legalisms and legislators, governmental structures and the aristocrats who maneuvered within them. Even the second Punic War is employed merely as a backdrop to discuss the displacement of peoples and the subsequent land confiscation of victorious Rome. Lest you think that an act of confiscation might lend some excitement, David makes sure to drown it in ennui with stupefying legalistic effect.

If there is a less intriguing side to any facet of Romanization, David finds it with unerring regularity. He seems to leap towards drudgery. Every single time I thought the book was about to pick up, David found a new professorial rat hole to climb down. Hellenism, the agent most responsible for melding the Italics into a whole, is discussed more as an aside than the powerful (and powerfully interesting) cultural force it had become. Additionally, the Social War and the civil wars which punctuated the manifestation of Roman empire are painstakingly avoided as well.

I, long ago, experienced the college history profs who, smugly announcing that they don't do wars, dove straight into the most mindnumbingly pedantic archival material known to man. These are the people who, though apparently devoted to representing history, do it its greatest disservice. They literally suck the fun out of it. One of their kind wrote this book.

This book is only 218 pages long yet holds a lot of information. Starting around the fourth century BC, in Italy, the author describes the people of Italy, their backgrounds, governments (or lack of) and orgins. Then Rome steps onto the stage in the next act and we learn how it incorporated the other cities into their state, with or without the use of force. Hannibal and the consequences of the second Punic War are next, followed by chapters on the Italian economy, municipal politics, patronage and Romanization, Roman domination and citizenship, and in the final act the book deals with the Roman instruments of power; money, clients and prestige.

This book is a superb description of the factors that during the last two centuries BC lead Italy from being a collection of states under Rome domination to a sigle political entity. The prospective buyer must be aware that the translation of the title is misleading. This NOT a history of the conquest of Italy by Rome but a history of how after being conquested by Rome Italy became "Romanized".

The State Within a State is an extremeley interesting book with a credible thesis (the KGB never really went away). I have problems with the author's obvious hatred of the Russian Revolution and Stalin and the way she claims there is an unbroken chain of horror going all the way back to 1917. Obviously things are better today- hence her book! She says 66.7 million people died under "Chekist" rule since the Russian Revolution-and then cites the Guiness Book of Records as her source!? No one could ever prove such a figure, I think its one of things thats repeated 'til it becomes fact. I also find the author's lack of knowledge about our own CIA kind of disheartening. This fine organization has spread as much death and terror in the Third World (Indonesia, Guatemala,Chile, Argentina, Brazil etc. etc. ) as the KGB ever did anywhere, yet she seems to make them out to be benevolent compared to the KGB (which if you read this book are responsible for everything wrong with the world today). After reading this book I still don't understand why she thinks the KGB or its incarnations are as bad today as they were at the height of the Terror in 1937. Its not really explained in the book. I still am not convinced that the KGB was the NKVD, and definitely convinced that either was the SS. Research I have done casually has never come up with hard, convincing figures for a Nazi style genocide in the USSR, and this anecdotal, unconvincing book didn't change my historical views.

This book is an excellent expose of the terrors and tortures of the Russian KGB. One marvels at their tenacity, brutality, and animal-like ruthlessness in hunting down their prey. Prey that included innocent and harmless religious groups, student groups, and just about anyone who disagreed with the Communist Ideology. America could learn much from the terrible living history of Russia. Americans have adopted similar tactics in dealing with those who disagree with the politically correct movements of our day. These are scary times we live in, and Russia should be a lesson to us all.

Reviewed by NIGEL CLIVE in International Relations, Volume XIII, No 2, August 1996 -

Yevgenia Albats, a journalist on Moscow News and Isvestia, has written a convincing analysis of the almost unbroken continuity of the political police from Lenin's Cheka to the present-day Chekists, as she rightly calls them, who ostensibly serve the president, but whose loyalty is in fact confined to their own leaders. Her courage as an intrepid critic of the KGB is shown in her many interviews with both the victims and torturers and with several former KGB leading figures, notably Oleg Kalugin who told her: 'There is no area of our lives, from religion to sports, where the Committee does not pursue some interest of its own'. Citizens' private lives have always been the KGB's main target. Penetration of the Orthodox Church started with the Cheka and continued without a break for the next seventy years. There was similar penetration of Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Seventh day Adventists. The formal structure of the 'State within a State' has only been the tip of the iceberg. 'Reliable' people, secret helpers, directors of scientific research institutes and deans of academic institutions make up the countless number of shadow workers. Albats has tracked down and interrogated such notorious executioners as Alexander Khvat and exposed such specialists in torture as Professor Vladimir Boyarsky, the NKVD's investigator turned professor in the field of mining science and technology.
During the perestroika years, people who were closely connected with the KGB advanced to the highest offices in the country and the KGB increased its power in the Army. By 1985, the KGB had successfully grafted itself on to the party-state apparat. So when the KGB, the communist party and the military industrial complex cooked up the plan for perestroika, the KGB was in a prime position to run the show and man the engine for reform. Albats shows how Gorbachev suited the group within the oligarchy who were capable of seeing how close the Soviet Union was to economic collapse. That meant he suited the KGB as well. This was how perestroika opened the way for the KGB to advance toward the heart of power. In the chapter headed 'Realities of the Glasnost Era', she reveals how the KGB 'with the same methods, the same hands, the same brains and the same mentality' did not transform itself under the facade of perestroika. Top secret memoranda from the KGB's Kryuchkov to Gorbachev in March 1989 show, for instance, how aid was given to the opposition parties in the Sri Lankan election. There is also documentation illustrating the better known fact that the KGB had infiltrated the Popular Fronts that were leading national liberation movements. In the spring of 1991, when Yeltsin was running for president, KGB directors sent their officers a coded telegram ordering them to vote against Yeltsin. The KGB also had a source close to Gorbachev. Indeed the tragic paradox of perestroika was that the democrats removed the communist party from the political arena before they were ready to step in and take over. Unwittingly, they had disrupted the balance of power in favour of the KGB, thereby allowing it in December 1990 to declare publicly through its chairman Kryuchkov that the real power in the country was vested in the political police. In April 1991, Gorbachev was warned that a coup d'état was being prepared from the right, but he took no notice.
From the start of the August 1991 coup, Albats kept a detailed diary. She was a member of the subsequent State Commission to Investigate the Activity of the KGB during the coup, which found that the KGB plotters had underestimated the mistrust they evoked in the public and especially within their own institutions. A few months later she was expelled for insubordination, because she called for the KGB's end and for a statement of the irreconcilability of true democracy with a political police. The key finding of the Commission has, however, shown that the second echelon of power had stood aside. The shadow cabinets of the KGB, the military industrial complex, the Army, the Party and the provincial authorities had not supported the coup. Thereafter, there was widespread destruction of KGB documents and since August 1991 the KGB has changed its name several times without changing its basic functions. When Bakatin took over the post-coup KGB, his orders were not obeyed and he was soon replaced by Ivanenko to head the newly named Federal Security Agency. In December 1991, Yeltsin imposed his friend the Interior Minister Barannikov who stopped the dismantling of the KGB, but who soon gave way to academician Primakov whose 'transformation' of the KGB turned out to be mostly cosmetic. Original functions have been retained under new names, indicating that Yeltsin could not imagine a government structure in which the KGB was absent. By the autumn of 1992, the KGB was regaining its strength. The military industrial complex, which was one of the moving forces behind the August 1991 coup, had hardly been touched by personnel changes. Furthermore, the KGB is the only institution from the previous regime to have preserved horizontal ties with the now autonomous republics of the former Soviet Union. It also has agents in parliament and the executive branch, and once again has a monopoly of information. In Albat's interview in early February 1994 with Nikolai Golushko, the head of the federal Counterintelligence Service, it had become clear that the KGB in its new incarnation had lost virtually none of its former functions. It still bugs whatever government lines it chooses and still monitors every area that affects state interests. There is no public oversight and its budget is kept secret. At the end of February 1994, Golushko was forced to step down after he refused to obey Yeltsin's request that he bar the parliament from granting amnesty to the coup plotters and rebels. His successor Sergei Stepashin did not seem to Albats to reduce the KGB's remarkable capacity for regeneration and revival.
NIGEL CLIVE

i picked this book up from a homeless bookseller in manhattan for a dollar, figuring it might be worth a try. and it was - i read the whole thing!

it's major pluses: it's written in a surprisingly modern style. i've read other travelogues of the time period, like melville's omoo and typee and others, and this one was FAR better. perhaps it's that the author is not pompous or trying too hard to be "literary." he tries a little bit, but mostly he just sticks to the facts and tells the story. and the story on its own is interesting enough - travelling all around eastern siberia with wandering natives on dogsleds and reindeer sleds, living in yurts and eating funky foods, starving at times, camping under snowdrifts at fifty below zero, and mostly just observing and interacting with native peoples who (i have a strange feelings) may not even exist any more. and all this set in the backdrop of such an interesting time period in our history - just after the U.S. Civil War.

other point of food for thought: the guy did his travels at AGE TWENTY!!!, and wrote and published the entire book by age 25! this strikes me as quite odd, because his whole style is...so mature...and intellectual. you'd think you're reading a book by a forty year old (at least). and to this that seven years before he travelled to siberia...he was just thirteen.

anyway, all in all a good and interesting book, good in a way for light historical reading, but nothing to shock your boots off...

Telegraph operator George Kennan signs on to build a telegraph line across Siberia in late 1800s. Very good American example of understated adventure writing, a genre probably perfected by the British.

I couldn't put this book down. On a par with Shackleton's story. Well written, fascinating account of a two year Siberian expedition in the mid 1800s.