The Border Virtual Book Talk with Erika Fatland

On June 7, attend a virtual talk with acclaimed Norwegian author Erika Fatland (Sovietland) on her new book The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Foland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage, out now from Pegasus Books! The program will be moderated by Jessica Case.

Imperial, communist, or autocratic, Russia has been — and remains — a towering and intimidating neighbor, whether to North Korea in the Far East or the former Soviet republics in Asia and the Caucasus, or countries on the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea. What would it be like to traverse the entirety of the Russian periphery to examine its influence on those countries closest to its border?

An astute and brilliant combination of lyric travel writing and modern history, The Border is a book about Russia without its author ever entering Russia itself as Fatland gets to the heart of what it has meant to be the neighbor of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. As we follow Fatland on her journey, we experience the colorful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations along with their cultures, their people, their landscapes.

Sharply observed and wholly absorbing, The Border is a surprising new way to understand a broad part our world.