Colin Thubron wrote this book, Among the Russians [ISBN 978 0 552 15462 8] in 1983, and thus gives, probably, a very different picture of Russia – in its heyday of the Soviet Socialist Republics – than today – or perhaps not. On his journey he not only met some fascinating people but joined them convivially in many nights of vodka drinking – though he needed the pot plants often to save him. His lyrical style gives us much information about the people and places he encounters without revealing much about Thubron himself except by the reflection of his words.

Colin Thubron sets off from St Petersburg and journeys in his car through the Baltic states south to Georgia and Armenia. He meets people to talk to at each stage, though several are rather scared to talk to him openly – and then he notices that he himself is being followed – presumably by the KGB – though never stopped. He manages to convey the spirit of the Russian people as a contrast to the heavy state control – but then it is clear the sheer poverty of their lives made drinking vodka the most many had to look forward to.