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Where the West Ends
Prize-winning author Michael J. Totten returns with a masterpiece of travel writing and history in this journey through thirteen nations--all but two formerly communist--just beyond the edge of the West where few casual travelers venture.
His work as an independent foreign correspondent takes him deep into the field beyond the sensational headlines, from his hilariously miserable road trip with his best friend to Iraq and to the Wild West of Albania, the most bizarre country in Europe; from the killing fields in Bosnia and Kosovo to a Romania haunted by the ghosts of its communist past; from the front lines in the Caucasus during Russia's invasion of Georgia to the otherworldly post-Soviet disasterscape in Ukraine.
Where the West Ends is high-octane adventure writing at its finest and is Michael J. Totten's most entertaining work written to date.
His work as an independent foreign correspondent takes him deep into the field beyond the sensational headlines, from his hilariously miserable road trip with his best friend to Iraq and to the Wild West of Albania, the most bizarre country in Europe; from the killing fields in Bosnia and Kosovo to a Romania haunted by the ghosts of its communist past; from the front lines in the Caucasus during Russia's invasion of Georgia to the otherworldly post-Soviet disasterscape in Ukraine.
Where the West Ends is high-octane adventure writing at its finest and is Michael J. Totten's most entertaining work written to date.
268 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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April 21, 2020
This book is an interesting book about life in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This book has its strong points and weak points. The strong points: this book takes on a trip through parts of the world that are only talked about as a current event, but never fully explored. We always seem to focus on the former non-Russia Soviet Union and the Balkans when Russia (or genocide in the case of the Balkans) is in involved, but now we get a look at these places on their own (this book takes place years before the current trouble in Ukraine). Now the weak points: Unlike Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey Into the Heart of Russia, this book and travel was not done by professionals. Totten and his friend Sean did not bother wit translators or prior information about the countries they visited before actually going to the places and it leads to awkward, annoying, and frustrating experiences in this book. One really wishes the guys took a more serious approach.
So I recommend this book as o one time read for pleasure or at least a "what-not-to-do" travel guide for Eurasia. I learned a lot more about the Balkans and the former Soviet states than I had before--so I can sincerely thank this book for that.
So I recommend this book as o one time read for pleasure or at least a "what-not-to-do" travel guide for Eurasia. I learned a lot more about the Balkans and the former Soviet states than I had before--so I can sincerely thank this book for that.
October 2, 2012
While I enjoy Michael Totten's writing about the Middle East and its conflicts and politics, my favorites of his blog entries have always been his stories of traveling through eastern Europe. This book collects and expands on these, as well as including new material, and I recommend it to anyone who's interested in the history of eastern Europe, the southern former-SSRs, and the near-Asian countries that influence that area.
Totten is a really good writer, and this is really good travel writing: evocative, personal, with a sense of immediacy. He opens with the tale of an impulsive trip he took with his friend Sean LaFreniere to Iraq--a whirlwind trip in which they had only three days to get from Istanbul to the Iraqi border and back again. Like most trips, it didn't go as smoothly as they hoped, but the main point was...they could drive to Iraq. You might as well say you could drive to the moon.
And this is what characterizes the rest of the book: We live in an era when we can go pretty much anywhere. Totten, accompanied by various friends, drives to places like Ukraine, Chernobyl, the Russian-occupied city of Gori in war-torn Georgia. Along the way he documents what he sees and links it to history. I wish I'd had this book when Yugoslavia fractured into all those warring countries; Totten makes the conflict easier to understand.
The thing that most amazed me was Totten's description of Islam in eastern Europe, in places like Bosnia and Albania and Kosovo. It bears little resemblance to the Islamism of the Middle East that most Americans are familiar with, that Islamist clerics are trying to force on those Eastern Europeans. Can both versions really be called Islam? Muslim women in Kosovo, for example, rarely wear the hijab or even a head scarf. Alcohol is freely available. Praying five times daily, in public, isn't a community thing. I am interested to see what kind of Islam comes out of these countries--assuming their Arab neighbors fail to convert them back.
Very enjoyable and informative writing, and I hope Totten produces more of the same in the future.
Totten is a really good writer, and this is really good travel writing: evocative, personal, with a sense of immediacy. He opens with the tale of an impulsive trip he took with his friend Sean LaFreniere to Iraq--a whirlwind trip in which they had only three days to get from Istanbul to the Iraqi border and back again. Like most trips, it didn't go as smoothly as they hoped, but the main point was...they could drive to Iraq. You might as well say you could drive to the moon.
And this is what characterizes the rest of the book: We live in an era when we can go pretty much anywhere. Totten, accompanied by various friends, drives to places like Ukraine, Chernobyl, the Russian-occupied city of Gori in war-torn Georgia. Along the way he documents what he sees and links it to history. I wish I'd had this book when Yugoslavia fractured into all those warring countries; Totten makes the conflict easier to understand.
The thing that most amazed me was Totten's description of Islam in eastern Europe, in places like Bosnia and Albania and Kosovo. It bears little resemblance to the Islamism of the Middle East that most Americans are familiar with, that Islamist clerics are trying to force on those Eastern Europeans. Can both versions really be called Islam? Muslim women in Kosovo, for example, rarely wear the hijab or even a head scarf. Alcohol is freely available. Praying five times daily, in public, isn't a community thing. I am interested to see what kind of Islam comes out of these countries--assuming their Arab neighbors fail to convert them back.
Very enjoyable and informative writing, and I hope Totten produces more of the same in the future.
October 17, 2013
Don't bother with this book. I couldn't even finish reading it; the pedantic prose, the "gee, I'm not in Kansas any more" revelations in every new locale, the millimeter-thick understanding of regional dynamics all added up to a thoroughly disappointing aftertaste. Kagan, you aren't.
July 27, 2013
I generally steer away from travel writing about more mainstream locations because I find that the genre can be rather formulaic (I ate here, I stayed here, the people were like this and then I went somewhere else) and I feel that popular destinations like London or Paris are best experienced in person rather than through the page. I can state with reasonable confidence, however, that I do not have any of the areas visited by Michael Totten in Where the West Ends on any upcoming travel itineraries. In fact, it is pretty safe to assume that I probably wont ever make it to the likes of Kosovo, Iraq, or Montenegro or anyplace else visited by Totten while he traverses the nebulous border between east and west. Totten's book reads like a travelogue with a strong geopolitical focus and is ultimately an informative and enjoyable examination of such countries.
Totten and an occasional travel partner ultimately visit thirteen countries in all with each country roughly receiving one chapter. Each chapter can stand alone as a vignette but chapters are further organized by region which helps provide greater context to understanding life there. Where the West Ends adheres to some of the basic structures of travel writing, and Totten offers up some vivid descriptions of the sheer beauty and abject desolation that he finds within these countries. He is a gifted writer and he is also very familiar with his subject matter. Totten is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and he has reported from Iraq, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union.
I came into the book with very limited knowledge about the region. I always plan on reading The Economist cover-to-cover but I can't recall the last time I read more than one article in the Middle East and Africa Section. I generally assumed that countries such as Georgia and Kosovo had their issues and quirks but I never read anything describing life there. Shameful reading habits aside, I remain interested in learning about the area and Totten thankfully is able to provide quite a bit of fascinating information about it. In addition to dejecting post-communist apartment blocks and corrupt officials, many of these countries are filled with factual tidbits. The reception of Totten's American citizenship truly runs the gamut, and there are some surprising members of the pro-American camp. The author is embraced by Iraqi Kurds, who are ideological polar opposites from Iraqi Arabs in terms of America. Kurds (and even the most devout viewers of Fox News) cannot beat the residents of Kosovo in terms of American support, though. The country boasts what is probably the world's only examples of graffiti writing effusively praising George W. Bush and a patisserie/disco (there are undoubtedly numerous typos in this review but that last phrase is not one of them) named "Hillary" in honor of the former first lady, while her husband has an eleven foot statue in his honor on Bill Clinton Boulevard in the capital of Prishtina. That being said, the highlight of the book was still probably learning about a statue of Lenin in Yalta that stares directly at a McDonald's franchise.
While there are plenty of entertaining and somewhat-depressing descriptions of awful hotels, ravaged post-communist environments, shady cabdrivers and other elements of the countries covered, Totten also writes about some of their deeper cultural and political aspects. Totten interviews various professors, journalists, and everyday residents who help provide additional insight into life at the borders between the developed and developing world. I found these sections, such Totten's detailing of the Russia-Georgia conflict to be both comprehensive and enlightening, though not all interview subjects were equally engaging. Several of these sections dragged on a bit as a result. It was still generally nice to understand the historical underpinnings that led to the often dismal surroundings encountered by the author. Totten also makes some astute statements, such as when he posits that nationalism is on par with radical Islam in contributing to the perpetual state of Middle Eastern tension.
I don't want to come across as a pre-schooler but Totten mentions holding a camera or performing the act of photography several times in the book, often while in front of some majestic landscape or peculiar sight. He even risks riling up unfriendly soldiers and officials by having a camera on his person during several instances. If he is going to dangle these pictures in front of our faces and endure so much trouble and risk in doing so you would think he could include some of said photographs within the pages of Where the West Ends. On a more positive note, these reckless camera-holding habits exhibit Totten's freewheeling and adventurous approach to his journey, which helps make for an enjoyable read. He is unafraid to travel to Iraq on a whim (the trip was completely unplanned as he tells it), solicit navigational help from anti-American civilians, and he even attempts to pay Chernobyl a visit during his travels (where he is unfortunately rebuffed). These passages inject more excitement than most books that extensively cover the breakup of Yugoslavia and collapse of Albanian government can muster.
In Sum
Where the West Ends is a worthwhile read that strikes a nice balance between being informative and entertaining as Totten explores the Balkans, Middle East, Caucasus, and Black Sea regions. Simply pointing out their idiosyncrasies in a travelogue would make for a worthwhile read, but the book is further enhanced (in general) with reflections about the factors that shaped each country's politics and culture.
7/10
October 7, 2013
Fun new book from Michael J. Totten. Fun, that is, if your idea of thrills is a drive from Turkey into Iraq for lunch, and that surely would be a thrill for me. Where the West Ends expands on Mr. Totten's Dispatches blog for World Affairs Journal. Sections are roughly grouped as the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Black Sea.
Many authors seem to believe they won't be taken seriously unless their work is laden with ponderous history. When well written that's worthwhile. When it's not, it's the reason tons of books are returned to the shelf half-finished.
In Where the West Ends, Mr. Totten mostly allows a cursory sketch of the past to suffice. I suspect that satisfies most armchair travelers. Then he gets on with the travel writing I like best, what it feels like to get up from that chair and actually go to a place, and what it's like, personally, to be there.
Much more personal, and personable, than lots of today's current affairs writing.
Many authors seem to believe they won't be taken seriously unless their work is laden with ponderous history. When well written that's worthwhile. When it's not, it's the reason tons of books are returned to the shelf half-finished.
In Where the West Ends, Mr. Totten mostly allows a cursory sketch of the past to suffice. I suspect that satisfies most armchair travelers. Then he gets on with the travel writing I like best, what it feels like to get up from that chair and actually go to a place, and what it's like, personally, to be there.
Much more personal, and personable, than lots of today's current affairs writing.
September 12, 2013
This probably would have been better had I known more about this part of the world in advance. The author makes reference to taking photographs at almost all points of the book; I wish that some of them had been included. The story feels a bit empty without them.
September 5, 2024
Brendan James summed him up nicely: "Typical... Michael Totten; banal jingoism dressed up as thoughtful realism."
I have many more thoughts than this, but I'll keep it brief. You've got an infantile, 'frat boy' author, with generalizations that are extremely unhelpful. He uncritically regurgitates the US party line on the Middle East. I don't know enough about the Caucasus or Black Sea, but I do know a lot about the Middle East and I know many of his claims are downright ludicrous. I was completely unsurprised to learn that he exclusively self-publishes and that "Belmont Estate Books" (which, lol) is just his personal press, which he also uses to publish poorly-received and indulgent novels about the zombie apocalypse (also lol).
I'll restrain myself to the Kurdistan chapter. You know, I don't know if I fully 'buy' the thesis of Edward Said's Orientalism, but Totten did embarrassingly little to prove him wrong. I will let the thing speak for itself. Take this passage, from page 49-50.
"Americans and Kurds don't just get along because we're temporary allies of convenience in the Middle East. The connection is deeper, personal. Kurdish culture and American culture might as well be from different planets, yet somehow, oddly enough, Kurds think much like Americans do. They think in straight lines, not circles. They rely on logic and reason more than emotion... Michael Yon noticed it, too. 'Meetings with Iraqi Arabs sometimes seem more like talking with the French... but with the Kurds, like the Poles or Brits, there is an easy and audible click.'" (emf. added)
This is the stuff of pure Orientalism. What the fuck is he talking about? The book, particularly the first two sections, are replete with missives about the "Arab mind" and such crude simplifications. He speaks of "the Kurds," "the Arabs," "the Russians." Edward Said got it right when he wrote "Nothing is more common in the public discourse than phrases like 'the English' or 'the Arabs' or 'the Americans' or 'the Africans,' each of them suggesting not only a whole culture but a specific mindset." (Representations of the Intellectual, pp. 30-1) The issue with that is it is useless, reductive, and essentialist. I'm not Arab (nor am I Kurdish or Russian, for that matter) but even to me it is obvious that he cannot be correct when making assertions about a group that includes hundreds of millions of people, with even more if you include diasporas. Does he really think his reader that stupid?
He even talks about, sans irony or qualification, "oriental despotism" on pp. 253. He is always talking about how these various Easterners just "don't understand" or simply "don't get" freedom and democracy (pp. 23, 49, 52, and just so many more). This book could have been so, so interesting. I mean, what a fascinating concept! Too bad so much of it is polluted with US foreign policy tropes. Much else of it talks of how ugly and awful everything was. Easily, the negative:positive ratio of his sensory descriptions was 80 to 20. Then, he never shut up about his expensive camera (it was almost a plot device unto itself) and then furnishes exactly zero photos. My guess is, if he's too cheap to stay in a 3-star hotel, he's probably too cheap to spend extra money on a couple photo pages in the middle, which is really a shame.
It's at its best describing humorous stories. I cackled at the passage on 259 where he describes how his friend, trying to communicate that he wanted chicken to a Ukrainian waitress, first attempted some improvised language, but eventually stood up and emulated a chicken, full "bock BOCK" and all. Even then his words were overwrought, but it was still objectively funny. Much better than when he made a big show of his sympathy. I almost never accuse others of virtue signaling, but he is the case in point for that.
If he had some sort of book deal, were he sponsored by some institution, he could've had a much more interesting set of stories to tell and a press that wouldn't have skimped on pictures, and perhaps they would've caught all his amateurish typos. Totten styles himself an independent journalist. It is far more accurate to call him an unaffiliated blogger, with all the neuroticism and failure that implies. My apologies, Mike, but it's really your fault. I wanted to like you so badly.
I have many more thoughts than this, but I'll keep it brief. You've got an infantile, 'frat boy' author, with generalizations that are extremely unhelpful. He uncritically regurgitates the US party line on the Middle East. I don't know enough about the Caucasus or Black Sea, but I do know a lot about the Middle East and I know many of his claims are downright ludicrous. I was completely unsurprised to learn that he exclusively self-publishes and that "Belmont Estate Books" (which, lol) is just his personal press, which he also uses to publish poorly-received and indulgent novels about the zombie apocalypse (also lol).
I'll restrain myself to the Kurdistan chapter. You know, I don't know if I fully 'buy' the thesis of Edward Said's Orientalism, but Totten did embarrassingly little to prove him wrong. I will let the thing speak for itself. Take this passage, from page 49-50.
"Americans and Kurds don't just get along because we're temporary allies of convenience in the Middle East. The connection is deeper, personal. Kurdish culture and American culture might as well be from different planets, yet somehow, oddly enough, Kurds think much like Americans do. They think in straight lines, not circles. They rely on logic and reason more than emotion... Michael Yon noticed it, too. 'Meetings with Iraqi Arabs sometimes seem more like talking with the French... but with the Kurds, like the Poles or Brits, there is an easy and audible click.'" (emf. added)
This is the stuff of pure Orientalism. What the fuck is he talking about? The book, particularly the first two sections, are replete with missives about the "Arab mind" and such crude simplifications. He speaks of "the Kurds," "the Arabs," "the Russians." Edward Said got it right when he wrote "Nothing is more common in the public discourse than phrases like 'the English' or 'the Arabs' or 'the Americans' or 'the Africans,' each of them suggesting not only a whole culture but a specific mindset." (Representations of the Intellectual, pp. 30-1) The issue with that is it is useless, reductive, and essentialist. I'm not Arab (nor am I Kurdish or Russian, for that matter) but even to me it is obvious that he cannot be correct when making assertions about a group that includes hundreds of millions of people, with even more if you include diasporas. Does he really think his reader that stupid?
He even talks about, sans irony or qualification, "oriental despotism" on pp. 253. He is always talking about how these various Easterners just "don't understand" or simply "don't get" freedom and democracy (pp. 23, 49, 52, and just so many more). This book could have been so, so interesting. I mean, what a fascinating concept! Too bad so much of it is polluted with US foreign policy tropes. Much else of it talks of how ugly and awful everything was. Easily, the negative:positive ratio of his sensory descriptions was 80 to 20. Then, he never shut up about his expensive camera (it was almost a plot device unto itself) and then furnishes exactly zero photos. My guess is, if he's too cheap to stay in a 3-star hotel, he's probably too cheap to spend extra money on a couple photo pages in the middle, which is really a shame.
It's at its best describing humorous stories. I cackled at the passage on 259 where he describes how his friend, trying to communicate that he wanted chicken to a Ukrainian waitress, first attempted some improvised language, but eventually stood up and emulated a chicken, full "bock BOCK" and all. Even then his words were overwrought, but it was still objectively funny. Much better than when he made a big show of his sympathy. I almost never accuse others of virtue signaling, but he is the case in point for that.
If he had some sort of book deal, were he sponsored by some institution, he could've had a much more interesting set of stories to tell and a press that wouldn't have skimped on pictures, and perhaps they would've caught all his amateurish typos. Totten styles himself an independent journalist. It is far more accurate to call him an unaffiliated blogger, with all the neuroticism and failure that implies. My apologies, Mike, but it's really your fault. I wanted to like you so badly.
May 26, 2013
I think if I could figure out how to be a travel writer and make a living that way, I would. And books like this don't help matters (neither do re-runs of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations- but that's beside the point.)* I can think of no job that would be more awesome that travelling the world and writing about the crazy, random, wonderful, odd, dangerous things that you see along the way.
And Michael J. Totten makes that old idealistic itch of mine itch that much harder because he's a good writer. (This post from way back when about the Ghost City of Cyprus bumped Cyprus up to one of my bucket list destinations. So did that paper I wrote back as an undergrad dissecting the Cyprus Conflict- a fascinating, fascinating subject that I knew nothing about.)
Where The West Ends chronicles his journeys through a variety of countries, starting in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey and winding up through Albania and Serbia before heading over to Georgia and the Caucuses and then Romania and finally Ukraine. Totten and his occasional travelling companion and buddy Sean drive into Iraqi Kurdistan like it's nothing- on a whim, in fact, just to find out what's going on. They drive into Kosovo and nearly end up in a dangerous Serb neighborhood of Pristina. They meet American soldiers, Albanians that love America and President Bush. They encounter hostility in the usual places (Serbia) and find love for America in places you wouldn't expect (Albania and Romania- both, apparently, ridiculously pro-American. As is Kosovo. I believe downtown Pristina has a statue of President Clinton, while Albania threw up a statue of Bush the Younger. That's right. Bush the Younger... he probably doesn't have a statue in the United States for cryin' out loud, but he's got one in Albania, by golly.)
Totten ventures into the Caucuses, visitng Georgia in the midst of the Russian invasion (and hops a taxi out to the Russian occupied town of Gori-- and almost manages to get there too before turning around and beating a hasty retreat back to Tblisi.) And finally, the book ends with a trip into Ukraine- ostensibly to check out the areas around Chernobyl, though as it turns, they don't make it there and instead end up taking a long, lonely trip down to the Crimea, where they really discover where the West ends.
To be honest, these 'dispatches from abroad' especially where The Balkans are concerned have been around forever. Rebecca West's Black Lamb, Grey Falcon probably remains one of the definitive books exploring what was then the country of Yugoslavia, but Robert Kaplan has dabbled here as well, with the excellent Balkan Ghosts- so Totten is travelling a path that's been fairly well travelled before, though I'd say his writing style lends a certain realism to his adventures. He's not painting a broad canvas or pretty metaphors of blood soaked mountains or haunted plains (Kaplan called his book Balkan Ghosts and there tended to be something ethereal about his writing in that book. Not to say that it wasn't well-written-- I enjoyed it immensely but it didn't drop you into the back seat of the car travelling throughout this region the way Totten does.) No, Totten brings you along for the ride- which makes Where The West Ends compulsively readable and enjoyable to boot.
This is the kind of foreign correspondant**, 'you are there' type of journalism I love. With so many networks cutting back on actual, real live foreign correspondants, it's awesome find someone who's willing to actually go to some of these messed up places and give you his best perspective on what's going on on what some of it might mean.
Overall: Totten is one of my 'must read' commentators on the Interwebs. If I see a link to an article of his float by, I click on it. He's an excellent writer, a straight shooter, a guy who's interest seems to be in informing you of facts on the ground- not analysis. He hearkens back to the old school foreign correspondant journalism of times past and this book, like so many of it's ilk aways makes me want to travel to some of these places- just so I, like him, can see it for myself. My Verdict: **** out of ****.
*Turns out that while No Reservations may be gone from Netflix (at least I can't find it.) Kitchen Confidential was available for Kindle. I'm already 36 pages in.
**Foreign correspondant is another job I'd love to have. Along with, weirdly enough, Air Traffic Controller.
And Michael J. Totten makes that old idealistic itch of mine itch that much harder because he's a good writer. (This post from way back when about the Ghost City of Cyprus bumped Cyprus up to one of my bucket list destinations. So did that paper I wrote back as an undergrad dissecting the Cyprus Conflict- a fascinating, fascinating subject that I knew nothing about.)
Where The West Ends chronicles his journeys through a variety of countries, starting in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey and winding up through Albania and Serbia before heading over to Georgia and the Caucuses and then Romania and finally Ukraine. Totten and his occasional travelling companion and buddy Sean drive into Iraqi Kurdistan like it's nothing- on a whim, in fact, just to find out what's going on. They drive into Kosovo and nearly end up in a dangerous Serb neighborhood of Pristina. They meet American soldiers, Albanians that love America and President Bush. They encounter hostility in the usual places (Serbia) and find love for America in places you wouldn't expect (Albania and Romania- both, apparently, ridiculously pro-American. As is Kosovo. I believe downtown Pristina has a statue of President Clinton, while Albania threw up a statue of Bush the Younger. That's right. Bush the Younger... he probably doesn't have a statue in the United States for cryin' out loud, but he's got one in Albania, by golly.)
Totten ventures into the Caucuses, visitng Georgia in the midst of the Russian invasion (and hops a taxi out to the Russian occupied town of Gori-- and almost manages to get there too before turning around and beating a hasty retreat back to Tblisi.) And finally, the book ends with a trip into Ukraine- ostensibly to check out the areas around Chernobyl, though as it turns, they don't make it there and instead end up taking a long, lonely trip down to the Crimea, where they really discover where the West ends.
To be honest, these 'dispatches from abroad' especially where The Balkans are concerned have been around forever. Rebecca West's Black Lamb, Grey Falcon probably remains one of the definitive books exploring what was then the country of Yugoslavia, but Robert Kaplan has dabbled here as well, with the excellent Balkan Ghosts- so Totten is travelling a path that's been fairly well travelled before, though I'd say his writing style lends a certain realism to his adventures. He's not painting a broad canvas or pretty metaphors of blood soaked mountains or haunted plains (Kaplan called his book Balkan Ghosts and there tended to be something ethereal about his writing in that book. Not to say that it wasn't well-written-- I enjoyed it immensely but it didn't drop you into the back seat of the car travelling throughout this region the way Totten does.) No, Totten brings you along for the ride- which makes Where The West Ends compulsively readable and enjoyable to boot.
This is the kind of foreign correspondant**, 'you are there' type of journalism I love. With so many networks cutting back on actual, real live foreign correspondants, it's awesome find someone who's willing to actually go to some of these messed up places and give you his best perspective on what's going on on what some of it might mean.
Overall: Totten is one of my 'must read' commentators on the Interwebs. If I see a link to an article of his float by, I click on it. He's an excellent writer, a straight shooter, a guy who's interest seems to be in informing you of facts on the ground- not analysis. He hearkens back to the old school foreign correspondant journalism of times past and this book, like so many of it's ilk aways makes me want to travel to some of these places- just so I, like him, can see it for myself. My Verdict: **** out of ****.
*Turns out that while No Reservations may be gone from Netflix (at least I can't find it.) Kitchen Confidential was available for Kindle. I'm already 36 pages in.
**Foreign correspondant is another job I'd love to have. Along with, weirdly enough, Air Traffic Controller.
July 7, 2013
Where the West Ends is a travelogue thru Turkey, Kurdistan, the Balkans, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukraine. At times, the book feels disjointed, Totten seems unsure whether he wants to be more Bill Bryson, by describing with humor the places he travels to and his sometimes funny interactions with the locals, or Robert Kaplan, by describing the places in more historical and political terms. For example, his travel through Turkey and the Kurdish region of Iraq feels more like the adventures of two frat boys - especially the dialogue with his friend, Sean, in an exotic locale. While in the next section of the book, he is obsessed with the political and historical significance of the Balkans.
He seems at his best when he is more Bryson and less Kaplan - I found his descriptions of the train travel in Azerbaijan and Georgia and his road trip through Ukraine to be particularly fascinating. Having traveled in the past few years through parts of the Arab world, I also found it interesting that he could get by easily with English there, but had real difficulties in communicating in Ukraine. I had assumed, like Totten, that English is the lingua franca through most of the world these days. Apparently, as Totten found out, that is not true in Russian parts of the world.
All in all, I would recommend this book especially the parts about the former Soviet Union.
He seems at his best when he is more Bryson and less Kaplan - I found his descriptions of the train travel in Azerbaijan and Georgia and his road trip through Ukraine to be particularly fascinating. Having traveled in the past few years through parts of the Arab world, I also found it interesting that he could get by easily with English there, but had real difficulties in communicating in Ukraine. I had assumed, like Totten, that English is the lingua franca through most of the world these days. Apparently, as Totten found out, that is not true in Russian parts of the world.
All in all, I would recommend this book especially the parts about the former Soviet Union.
April 6, 2013
I've been a reader of Michael Totten's blog for years, and he's always interesting. This was a very good read, although it suffers a bit from repetitiveness. Some chapters seem like an unedited collection of blog postings, each capable of standing on its own, and that is great if you're reading an individual blog entry, but as a continuous narrative in book form, some of the repetition should be edited out. Despite that, it was still a great read, and an interesting introduction to some regions of the world most of us will never visit ourselves. Totten's description of how he communicated a meal order to an unfriendly waitress in Ukraine, when neither party understood a single word the other spoke, made me laugh out loud, and I'm still smiling as I write this. Buy and read - highly recommended!
December 2, 2014
I was so thrilled when I discovered a book on the Balkans, Caucasus and Black Sea regions by a journalist who has traveled these regions. It's not often when I discover a book about my favorite part of the world of which I have not previously heard. Now I know why I'd researched materials on these regions and never come across Where the West Ends. It's not a terrible book. It's just that the further into it I read, the more the reporting became pro-U.S. military invention/foreign policy that it seemed more like propaganda than travel journalism. Next time I find what I hope to be a jewel by an "award winning journalist" I'll do more research on the author before purchasing. If you like your travel journalism with a very distinct right leaning political bent, you might just like this.
June 22, 2015
So good. Read this in 2 days. A collection of Totten's "travel" pieces spanning a little more than the last decade. Writing about areas like the Balkans, Romania, Iraq, Kosovo. Great stories. Gave me additional insight into the ethnic and religious complexities of these areas. Very keen to read his more up-to-date stuff to see if it holds up. Recommend it for getting an additional perspective into very complex areas of the world.
Update: I forgot to mention that there is no map in this book which I think is a HUGE oversight. How hard would it have been to add a map? I definitely recommend that you read it with a map handy. Will add a lot more to the narrative.
Update: I forgot to mention that there is no map in this book which I think is a HUGE oversight. How hard would it have been to add a map? I definitely recommend that you read it with a map handy. Will add a lot more to the narrative.
June 19, 2013
I have read a few books written by journalists regarding their insights on international topics. I've enjoyed all of them. This one, however, had the same impact on me as Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion, edited by Paul Marshall. Nowhere have I seen the topics raised regarding the Balkans and current conflicts in Chechnya and Georgia as I have seen in this book. It's not just a fact-finding operation, but well beyond that into the impact the US has had on the area, what people think in that area, and how their own ethnicity and religion has affected their perspectives. I think everyone should read this book.
October 14, 2013
I was really looking forward to reading this book, and glad I did, but boy, did it get off to a bad start! The premise is where Europe ends. What's on the other side, and what do the borderlands look like to Americans? It's divided into 4 sections. To Iraq ( driving from Turkey), the Balkans, The Caucasus, and The Black Sea.
The first section is just awful. Poorly written, and amateurish in tone and substance. I'm glad I didn't give up, as the other sections(3/4 of the book) are excellent, describing the complexities of the countries, wars, and ethnic differences. So my advice: skip the first part!
The first section is just awful. Poorly written, and amateurish in tone and substance. I'm glad I didn't give up, as the other sections(3/4 of the book) are excellent, describing the complexities of the countries, wars, and ethnic differences. So my advice: skip the first part!
December 13, 2013
Michael Totten’s style of travel writing reminds me a lot of that of that of Robert Kaplan with his focus on politics and history; I think it would be fair to classify the author as a young Kaplan. Of course you could also classify his writing as Kaplan for dummies, since it lacks the depth of analysis and often scholarly feel of Kaplan’s writing. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I would probably have worshiped Totten if I read this book in high school. I would also be more comfortable recommending Totten than Kaplan to my friends, Kaplan is more suited for foreign policy nerds like me while Where the West Ends can be enjoyed by anyone who likes travel and adventure.
April 15, 2018
I'm not quite sure how I decided to read this (but I suspect it was because of the parts about the Balkans). I did not like it.
December 21, 2020
Where the West Ends is a travelogue of the world's most troubled corners. Iraq? Check. The former Yugoslavia? Check. Georgia? The Ukraine? Crimea? Check, check, check. The Sarajevo Haggadah even makes a cameo appearance. And, although it's hard to imagine why one might not only wish to visit such places with remarkable regularity but also, somewhat inexplicably, in a rental car, the result is a collection of insightful and wonderful travel writing. (The dispatches from the Middle East also confirm what I first truly understood after reading Hero, which is that the situation in that region is simply FUBAR, the R here being "repair.")
It's fair, I think, to question Michael J. Totten's sanity, or at a minimum whether he has some kind of unfulfilled death wish. One should not, however, question his grasp of world affairs. With remarkable prescience (Where the West Ends was published in 2012), Totten essentially predicts the rise of ISIS. Quoting a Kosovar - no stranger to internecine war - "[The Americans] cannot leave. Shias and Sunnis hate each other more than they hate Americans." Likewise, he reports that Russia has not - and likely will not ever - accept the fact of Ukrainian independence, particularly insofar as the Crimean is concerned.
Aside from the political context, Where the West End provides an eye-opening look at the day-to-day struggles of life in these troubled spots, particularly in the small towns and villages that dot the countrysides. Totten's recollection of driving through Ukraine is remarkable, as much for the condition of the road he describes as for the the fact that he does not know a letter of Cyrilic and is rather hopelessly lost as a result. More than once, his descriptions brought to mind those from The Orientalist - the backdrop of which is the Caucasus...circa 1920. (And the Azerbaijan-Georgia train - oh my! - it seems Paul Theroux rode the same one in the 1980s!)
Where the West Ends is not perfect. It is necessary to look past certain flaws: Totten's obsession with taking (and talking about) pictures, for example, often without ever actually seeing anything. I was very sad that he wanted to "see" Dubrovnik only because he "want[ed] some pictures." What?! In fact, it often feels like Totten is on the move for the purpose of collecting places as opposed to trying to understand any particular area.
As he says himself, right about the time he tells the story of bocking like a chicken in order to order food in a restaurant "you wouldn't be wrong to say that someone who travels as much as I do should have known better." He does at least recognize - as in, in the very next sentence - that he should have known better. As a person, Totten seems maddening. As a journalist, his skill at synthesizing the major events in some very troubled regions is outstanding.
I'm torn between wishing I had the chutzpah (and time!) to follow in his literal footsteps and between being very, very glad that I'm facing down the Azeri/Serb/Russian/Chechen/Turkish/Kurdish border guard from the far side of a book rather than the passenger side of a car.
It's fair, I think, to question Michael J. Totten's sanity, or at a minimum whether he has some kind of unfulfilled death wish. One should not, however, question his grasp of world affairs. With remarkable prescience (Where the West Ends was published in 2012), Totten essentially predicts the rise of ISIS. Quoting a Kosovar - no stranger to internecine war - "[The Americans] cannot leave. Shias and Sunnis hate each other more than they hate Americans." Likewise, he reports that Russia has not - and likely will not ever - accept the fact of Ukrainian independence, particularly insofar as the Crimean is concerned.
Aside from the political context, Where the West End provides an eye-opening look at the day-to-day struggles of life in these troubled spots, particularly in the small towns and villages that dot the countrysides. Totten's recollection of driving through Ukraine is remarkable, as much for the condition of the road he describes as for the the fact that he does not know a letter of Cyrilic and is rather hopelessly lost as a result. More than once, his descriptions brought to mind those from The Orientalist - the backdrop of which is the Caucasus...circa 1920. (And the Azerbaijan-Georgia train - oh my! - it seems Paul Theroux rode the same one in the 1980s!)
Where the West Ends is not perfect. It is necessary to look past certain flaws: Totten's obsession with taking (and talking about) pictures, for example, often without ever actually seeing anything. I was very sad that he wanted to "see" Dubrovnik only because he "want[ed] some pictures." What?! In fact, it often feels like Totten is on the move for the purpose of collecting places as opposed to trying to understand any particular area.
As he says himself, right about the time he tells the story of bocking like a chicken in order to order food in a restaurant "you wouldn't be wrong to say that someone who travels as much as I do should have known better." He does at least recognize - as in, in the very next sentence - that he should have known better. As a person, Totten seems maddening. As a journalist, his skill at synthesizing the major events in some very troubled regions is outstanding.
I'm torn between wishing I had the chutzpah (and time!) to follow in his literal footsteps and between being very, very glad that I'm facing down the Azeri/Serb/Russian/Chechen/Turkish/Kurdish border guard from the far side of a book rather than the passenger side of a car.
November 28, 2025
It took me thirteen years to finally plough through my copy of Where the West Ends, which the author handed me as a gift when it was still a pre-production proof. There are plenty of authors out there who can report relevant details from a distant land. Michael Totten has a talent for writing dispatches, collected in books like this and 2014's Tower of the Sun, that retain their relevance as the world continues to turn.
Where the West Ends focuses on Totten's travels to countries that sit on the "seam" that links western Europe to "The East." He starts in Istanbul, recounting a cannonball run across Turkey to eat lunch in Iraqi Kurdistan before turning back. He finishes in Ukraine, predicting Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea several years before it happened. Between the two, he acquaints readers with the Balkans and the Caucasus. His chapters explore not just the austere hotels and countrysides of his destinations, but also the local geopolitical landscapes.
As we approach 2025, Where the West Ends remains relevant, fascinating, and worthwhile.
Where the West Ends focuses on Totten's travels to countries that sit on the "seam" that links western Europe to "The East." He starts in Istanbul, recounting a cannonball run across Turkey to eat lunch in Iraqi Kurdistan before turning back. He finishes in Ukraine, predicting Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea several years before it happened. Between the two, he acquaints readers with the Balkans and the Caucasus. His chapters explore not just the austere hotels and countrysides of his destinations, but also the local geopolitical landscapes.
As we approach 2025, Where the West Ends remains relevant, fascinating, and worthwhile.
March 21, 2022
Kind of meh on this book. I'm probably being a bit generous giving it three stars. I listened to the audiobook.
This gives a somewhat interesting perspective of one naïve traveler's perspective traveling to the middle east, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Ukraine. The author is an independent journalist, but that doesn't really come through in this book. This is more of a travelogue by one of your crazy college friends.
Still, it was about a part of the world with which I'm not very familiar, and it was interesting reading nonetheless.
I really disliked the narrator in the audiobook--particularly the lilting voice they gave to female characters. It was uncalled for, and seemed insulting. I'm also unsure of his pronunciation in places.
This book seems dated at times, and it might earn a star if it was updated, but some characteristics of our world don't change much in centuries, much less a decade.
This gives a somewhat interesting perspective of one naïve traveler's perspective traveling to the middle east, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Ukraine. The author is an independent journalist, but that doesn't really come through in this book. This is more of a travelogue by one of your crazy college friends.
Still, it was about a part of the world with which I'm not very familiar, and it was interesting reading nonetheless.
I really disliked the narrator in the audiobook--particularly the lilting voice they gave to female characters. It was uncalled for, and seemed insulting. I'm also unsure of his pronunciation in places.
This book seems dated at times, and it might earn a star if it was updated, but some characteristics of our world don't change much in centuries, much less a decade.
Read
January 10, 2022I have to admit that I was quite put-off when starting this book. It seemed that it was going to be rather "juvenile," for some reason. However, this has turned out to be an incredibly informative book, paired as it is with the personal experiences that make this much more than a book about the geo-political situation in parts of the world that I read and hear about but, sadly, know very little 0f. Michael Totten has provided me with background that may help me understand the world more clearly.
"As soon as you don’t believe in anything, you have a problem with everything. You don’t even know where to start."
"As soon as you don’t believe in anything, you have a problem with everything. You don’t even know where to start."
January 7, 2019
Utterly fascinating. Totten's style is great; he keeps you enthralled, even while picking through material that could be dry to some people (border disputes, political upheaval, etc.) I had some knowledge of the subject, but this book absolutely improved my understanding. If you're even passingly interested in the Balkans conflicts, the Russian occupation in Georgia, and how old members of the Soviet Block/Warsaw Pact got on after communism fell, read this!
March 16, 2021
A traveling adventure
I knew very little about some of the countries covered in the book but was interested in learning more, which I did. I enjoyed the author's writing style and especially enjoyed the way he included his tales of adventure. The book has inspired me to learn more in-depth politics, geography, and history about each of these countries. I am seriously interested in doing a road trip throughout Croatia.
I knew very little about some of the countries covered in the book but was interested in learning more, which I did. I enjoyed the author's writing style and especially enjoyed the way he included his tales of adventure. The book has inspired me to learn more in-depth politics, geography, and history about each of these countries. I am seriously interested in doing a road trip throughout Croatia.
March 16, 2018
A journalistic travel book with great writing and a story that moved along well. I learned much about areas of the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
January 3, 2019
Read like a good travel novel—a fascinating look at the edges of western civilization.
October 18, 2016
Travel writing meets journalism as Tottten and occasionally a friend travel through countries of the former Eastern Bloc. He ventures through Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and more reporting on current events and giving perspective to historical occurrences. His writing was sometimes funny and always informative.
September 23, 2012
If you drew an oval around the Black Sea, from Sarajevo and Dubrovnik on the west to Baku and Kurdish Iraq on the east, you would encompass the ancient, quirky and perpetually feuding lands visited and reported on by Michael Totten. These are places, I think it is safe to say, about which the average American reader knows little. Totten, in his very conversational and readable style, enlightens.
Which of these peoples loves the United States and which hate it? Where are the people of Albanian descent living and how did they get there? What part of this geography does Totten regard, due to its unrelenting religious and sectarian enmity, as the “Middle East of Europe?” Where are Muslims more secular than perhaps anywhere else in the world? What have the Russians been up to in Georgia? How have Romania and Ukraine changed since the dissolution of the USSR?
At times humorous and at times depressing, but always informative and entertaining, Totten answers these questions and more. We read of genocides and ethnic cleanings. We see firsthand the decrepitude left behind by the Soviet Union. The citizens of this world experience a reality completely different from people in the modern West. Tribal and clannish thinking still dominates. Borders fail to contain homogenous groups, including, for example, the Albanians and the Kurds.
Yet, as Totten documents, life goes on. Consider Predrag Delibasic, a half-Bosnian half-Serbian former prisoner of the Goli Otok concentration camp run by Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito. Totten, while sipping coffee with Delibasic in a Belgrade café, is shocked to observe Delibasic exchanging pleasantries with the man who ran Goli Otok, where Delibasic had to march naked and do forced labor. The ex-camp boss calls Delibasic “a good friend” and Delibasic responds, “I accept it and I don’t hate anybody.”
Which of these peoples loves the United States and which hate it? Where are the people of Albanian descent living and how did they get there? What part of this geography does Totten regard, due to its unrelenting religious and sectarian enmity, as the “Middle East of Europe?” Where are Muslims more secular than perhaps anywhere else in the world? What have the Russians been up to in Georgia? How have Romania and Ukraine changed since the dissolution of the USSR?
At times humorous and at times depressing, but always informative and entertaining, Totten answers these questions and more. We read of genocides and ethnic cleanings. We see firsthand the decrepitude left behind by the Soviet Union. The citizens of this world experience a reality completely different from people in the modern West. Tribal and clannish thinking still dominates. Borders fail to contain homogenous groups, including, for example, the Albanians and the Kurds.
Yet, as Totten documents, life goes on. Consider Predrag Delibasic, a half-Bosnian half-Serbian former prisoner of the Goli Otok concentration camp run by Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito. Totten, while sipping coffee with Delibasic in a Belgrade café, is shocked to observe Delibasic exchanging pleasantries with the man who ran Goli Otok, where Delibasic had to march naked and do forced labor. The ex-camp boss calls Delibasic “a good friend” and Delibasic responds, “I accept it and I don’t hate anybody.”
January 16, 2016
I would probably give this book about a 3.7 if I was allowed to be more exact. I listened to on audio-book while walking and also in the evenings. It starts out with a bizarre hurrah that is almost like an attempted Gonzo/HST thing when him and his friend set out on a road trip through Turkey into Kurdistan... almost makes it feel like its going to be an exaggerating backpacker story written by reckless twenty-somethings... but this may have also been in part due to the emphasis of the reader, since it was audiobook.
...but then, it actually gets good. The writer sets a nice pace and is able to blend his knowledge as a journalist of the history of the regions with very descriptive language of the places he visits... all while including tads of alcohol and randomness to keep it from getting too dry. When a travel book informs you in depth about places you've been (his description of Sarajevo is spot on,) and inspires you to visit places you haven't, all while improving your appreciation for small details in your current location.... it is certainly doing its job. Meanwhile, I also found it entertaining and can't wait to have an opportunity to visit the Caucasus region in the near future. Maybe I'd change my review to a 3.85 or 3.9 in this case.
...but then, it actually gets good. The writer sets a nice pace and is able to blend his knowledge as a journalist of the history of the regions with very descriptive language of the places he visits... all while including tads of alcohol and randomness to keep it from getting too dry. When a travel book informs you in depth about places you've been (his description of Sarajevo is spot on,) and inspires you to visit places you haven't, all while improving your appreciation for small details in your current location.... it is certainly doing its job. Meanwhile, I also found it entertaining and can't wait to have an opportunity to visit the Caucasus region in the near future. Maybe I'd change my review to a 3.85 or 3.9 in this case.
May 29, 2015
The first story had me worried as I thought the book was going to be the author doing deliberately "crazy" things for the sake of a book. After that the book picked up and I really enjoyed his take on the Balkans and how he came to realise how little he knew about this part of the world. This middle core was worth it despite what I'm about to write.
The end falls away very quickly and the author illustrates just how painful he would be to travel with. No knowledge of local language or customs, making broad sweeping statements about people and places with only a passing glance. It's excruciating in places. He acknowledges his arrogance and entitlement at one point but only after a few dozen pages of complaining.
The end of the book ends up being anti-communism propaganda with conflation between communism, sovietism and totalitarianism. I'd like to read a book by the author as he drove through the dark corners of capitalist economies.
The end falls away very quickly and the author illustrates just how painful he would be to travel with. No knowledge of local language or customs, making broad sweeping statements about people and places with only a passing glance. It's excruciating in places. He acknowledges his arrogance and entitlement at one point but only after a few dozen pages of complaining.
The end of the book ends up being anti-communism propaganda with conflation between communism, sovietism and totalitarianism. I'd like to read a book by the author as he drove through the dark corners of capitalist economies.
July 28, 2015
I am working my way through this book. I particularly enjoy learning about the countries he has visited, as they are not so often mentioned in travel books.
I have only one request of the author. Please, please, find alternate methods of writing "I said", "she said", "he said". This "...said" is even an antecedent for questions! It's almost like the author was told to add conversations to his book and didn't bother finding other ways to describe speech. Many of the conversations aren't that interesting, anyway, and don't add to the story. Sometimes they distract from the commentary. It's better to write without conversation than to do it poorly. I am counting items in quotations without "said", and so far I've only found one.
I'm being harsh. I do appreciate the book. The content is interesting, the history is very interesting, and these are places I would definitely like to visit.
I have only one request of the author. Please, please, find alternate methods of writing "I said", "she said", "he said". This "...said" is even an antecedent for questions! It's almost like the author was told to add conversations to his book and didn't bother finding other ways to describe speech. Many of the conversations aren't that interesting, anyway, and don't add to the story. Sometimes they distract from the commentary. It's better to write without conversation than to do it poorly. I am counting items in quotations without "said", and so far I've only found one.
I'm being harsh. I do appreciate the book. The content is interesting, the history is very interesting, and these are places I would definitely like to visit.
Read
June 20, 2013Travel narrative books are some of my favorite types. Since reading my first Bryson book on a flight back from London, I've made sure to slip one in every once in a while. Where the West Ends is an eye-opening look at some of the world's most interesting places, along with enough anecdotal humor and history to give you a sense that we're all just the same (looking for a McDonalds restaurant in the middle of Kiev). Anyone who enjoys a good travel narrative will like this one. Just be sure to keep a Wikipedia tab open on your browser. If you're like me, you'll spend half your time reading, and the other half looking up pictures and back stories on some of these places.
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