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The Big Red Train Ride
Used Book
267 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Eric Newby
42 books172 followersGeorge Eric Newby CBE MC (December 6, 1919 – October 20, 2006) was an English author of travel literature.
Newby was born and grew up near Hammersmith Bridge, London, and was educated at St Paul's School. His father was a partner in a firm of wholesale dressmakers but he also harboured dreams of escape, running away to sea as a child before being captured at Millwall. Owing to his father's frequent financial crises and his own failure to pass algebra, Newby was taken away from school at sixteen and put to work as an office boy in the Dorland advertising agency on Regent Street, where he spent most of his time cycling around the office admiring the typists' legs. Fortunately, the agency lost the Kellogg's account and he apprenticed aboard the Finnish windjammer Moshulu in 1938, sailing in what Newby entitled The Last Grain Race (1956) from Europe to Australia and back by way of Cape Horn (his journey was also pictorially documented in Learning the Ropes). In fact, two more grain races followed the 1939 race in which Newby participated, with the last race being held in 1949.
Newby was born and grew up near Hammersmith Bridge, London, and was educated at St Paul's School. His father was a partner in a firm of wholesale dressmakers but he also harboured dreams of escape, running away to sea as a child before being captured at Millwall. Owing to his father's frequent financial crises and his own failure to pass algebra, Newby was taken away from school at sixteen and put to work as an office boy in the Dorland advertising agency on Regent Street, where he spent most of his time cycling around the office admiring the typists' legs. Fortunately, the agency lost the Kellogg's account and he apprenticed aboard the Finnish windjammer Moshulu in 1938, sailing in what Newby entitled The Last Grain Race (1956) from Europe to Australia and back by way of Cape Horn (his journey was also pictorially documented in Learning the Ropes). In fact, two more grain races followed the 1939 race in which Newby participated, with the last race being held in 1949.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 16, 2025
A re-read, over 10 years after I first read this. I have read quite a lot of Eric Newby’s books and usually I like them, finding the author amusing, perhaps even charming in a British way. I originally rated this two stars, and when looking back, through I might have rated it a bit harshly.
So in a rare re-read, I gave it another go.
My original review below identifies the issue Newby had in writing this book. He was on the train (the Trans-Siberian Express) and only permitted to stop at three locations, so with those three exceptions, all he had to write about was his train time and what he saw out the window. Accompanied by his wife Wanda and Otto a Jewish German photographer and joined by the agency minder Mischa, they are permitted limited interactions with the other train passengers, and permitted to photograph even less! Therefore Newby’s book talks about places they pass with out seeing, it delves into Siberian history, Russian politics and the writing of earlier visitors.
For me it loses the necessary contact with his journey a little. While it is a relatively well written light history summary, I was more geared for a travel narrative. Many of the interactions Newby shares are by default short and often petty. They don’t carry the same amusement as the more experienced Paul Theroux, who manages to engage interesting and amusing train-friends for several page long discussions, so it falls a little flat in that regard.
For a travel narrative, describing his train journey and what he sees, the two stars I originally awarded is still fair. For a light history sprinkled with person travel anecdotes, it is a 3 star read. Feeling generous towards an author I am fond of, I will change my original rating to 3 stars.
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2014 review below.
I really wanted to like this book. In the end it was hard work. The book suffers because in 1977, foreigners were allowed to stop only in three places on the Trans-Siberian: Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk. Foreigners were also not allowed at the final destination -Vladivostok, and had to end the journey at the ferry / fishing port of Nakhodka.
Sadly, due to the lack of possibility on the journey, the book gets bogged down in history and extracts of other traveller's tales. Still some amusing anecdotes in there, just a bit of a battle to get through.
2 stars
So in a rare re-read, I gave it another go.
My original review below identifies the issue Newby had in writing this book. He was on the train (the Trans-Siberian Express) and only permitted to stop at three locations, so with those three exceptions, all he had to write about was his train time and what he saw out the window. Accompanied by his wife Wanda and Otto a Jewish German photographer and joined by the agency minder Mischa, they are permitted limited interactions with the other train passengers, and permitted to photograph even less! Therefore Newby’s book talks about places they pass with out seeing, it delves into Siberian history, Russian politics and the writing of earlier visitors.
For me it loses the necessary contact with his journey a little. While it is a relatively well written light history summary, I was more geared for a travel narrative. Many of the interactions Newby shares are by default short and often petty. They don’t carry the same amusement as the more experienced Paul Theroux, who manages to engage interesting and amusing train-friends for several page long discussions, so it falls a little flat in that regard.
For a travel narrative, describing his train journey and what he sees, the two stars I originally awarded is still fair. For a light history sprinkled with person travel anecdotes, it is a 3 star read. Feeling generous towards an author I am fond of, I will change my original rating to 3 stars.
---
2014 review below.
I really wanted to like this book. In the end it was hard work. The book suffers because in 1977, foreigners were allowed to stop only in three places on the Trans-Siberian: Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Khabarovsk. Foreigners were also not allowed at the final destination -Vladivostok, and had to end the journey at the ferry / fishing port of Nakhodka.
Sadly, due to the lack of possibility on the journey, the book gets bogged down in history and extracts of other traveller's tales. Still some amusing anecdotes in there, just a bit of a battle to get through.
2 stars
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February 26, 2017My favourite moment in this travel book is the KGB man's horror at seeing Newby's copy of a pre-WWI souvenir book about the Trans-Siberian featuring masses of information about the route and the stations all of which was restricted strategic data in the Soviet Union to be protected from the eyes of spying foreigners.
Newby's book recounting the long train journey from Moscow across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian railway is thoroughly inoffensive and mildly entertaining - perfect for anybody recovering from an operation or the like, the Bill Bryson of his day maybe. The problem with writing about a trip along the Trans-Siberian in a travel format is that the journey isn't particularly interesting, it's just very, very long.
You could counter this by exploring the places that you travel through and getting to know the other travellers, but because of the political restrictions of travelling through Siberia in the 1970s, and the fact that Newby didn't speak Russian - they seemed to have managed on occasion with his wife's Slovene and the KGB man who very helpfully spoke English - those possibilities were closed. In addition to Vladivostok (their journey finishes at Nakhodka instead), I believe several other cities on the Trans Siberian route were also closed cities at the time - so the book is less a record of travel as free adventure but more jolly larks in a sealed carriage.
The book does however contain a photograph of a man unironically wearing a Trilby made from birch bark.
Newby's book recounting the long train journey from Moscow across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian railway is thoroughly inoffensive and mildly entertaining - perfect for anybody recovering from an operation or the like, the Bill Bryson of his day maybe. The problem with writing about a trip along the Trans-Siberian in a travel format is that the journey isn't particularly interesting, it's just very, very long.
You could counter this by exploring the places that you travel through and getting to know the other travellers, but because of the political restrictions of travelling through Siberia in the 1970s, and the fact that Newby didn't speak Russian - they seemed to have managed on occasion with his wife's Slovene and the KGB man who very helpfully spoke English - those possibilities were closed. In addition to Vladivostok (their journey finishes at Nakhodka instead), I believe several other cities on the Trans Siberian route were also closed cities at the time - so the book is less a record of travel as free adventure but more jolly larks in a sealed carriage.
The book does however contain a photograph of a man unironically wearing a Trilby made from birch bark.
October 12, 2020
As much as I admire travel/adventure author Eric Newby’s books, THE BIG RED TRAIN RIDE (1978) is far from a favorite. Set in 1977, Newby boards the Trans-Siberian Express with his wife Wanda, a photographer, and an obligatory KGB handler (this being the old USSR days); with only minimal layovers and interruptions they ride all the way from Moscow to the Pacific, a journey that spans six times zones.
When Newby is good he is very, very good, and when detailing personalities and landscapes there are few better. At other times, though, as when filling in a region’s history and politics from previously published sources, the narrative comes across as forced and perfunctory.
Today’s journey is very similar to 1977’s, though it’s likely the food is in better supply. Rating for the book: a grudging three stars.
From the book:
Then, with the sun gone at last, the afterglow illuminated the pools and ponds of the marshy ground near the line over which long swaths of mist were forming. How beautiful Russia was at this moment. Soon the forest closed in again, dark and eerie, and now the sky above it was huge and pale, the colour of pearls. And so it would remain until dawn, the perpetual gloaming of a spring night in the latitude of Juneau, Alaska; Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain; Stavanger in Norway; and, allowing a degree or so, Cape Farewell, the southernmost extremity of Greenland.
When Newby is good he is very, very good, and when detailing personalities and landscapes there are few better. At other times, though, as when filling in a region’s history and politics from previously published sources, the narrative comes across as forced and perfunctory.
Today’s journey is very similar to 1977’s, though it’s likely the food is in better supply. Rating for the book: a grudging three stars.
From the book:
Then, with the sun gone at last, the afterglow illuminated the pools and ponds of the marshy ground near the line over which long swaths of mist were forming. How beautiful Russia was at this moment. Soon the forest closed in again, dark and eerie, and now the sky above it was huge and pale, the colour of pearls. And so it would remain until dawn, the perpetual gloaming of a spring night in the latitude of Juneau, Alaska; Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain; Stavanger in Norway; and, allowing a degree or so, Cape Farewell, the southernmost extremity of Greenland.
January 13, 2025
There are a couple of limitations in place here for a non fiction book. First of all he’s on a train. Second, it’s travelling through Siberia. As action packed as you might expect. He sprinkled enough history in to keep me reading, barely.
December 19, 2007
Found a copy of at the local used book store a few months ago - it was on my To Look For list thanks to a review at A Common Reader.
In the mid 1970's, "amateur traveller" and newspaper writer Eric Newby persuaded his wife and Otto, a photographer, to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway with him. A traveling companion assigned by The Agency became their fourth, and, despite his best efforts, they managed to have quite an interesting adventure within the far-easterly section of the Soviet Empire.
At least I think it was interesting... the doses of history that Newby presents the reader with at each stop started to look and sound pretty much the same. As the Agency man prevented them from getting to know much about any of their traveling companions, the human interest element was a little sparse. I did enjoy the descriptions of the landscape, for the most part, and the side trips they made in the few cities they were allowed to visit were intriguing. Newby's writing was generally entertaining, but I think the material was perhaps a bit too overwhelming to fit into the format. I found myself wishing for a Russian history Cliff Notes edition as I was reading.
Recommended to travelogue buffs who are looking for something a bit more meaty than Bill Bryson. Try to find it at the library, tho.
In the mid 1970's, "amateur traveller" and newspaper writer Eric Newby persuaded his wife and Otto, a photographer, to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway with him. A traveling companion assigned by The Agency became their fourth, and, despite his best efforts, they managed to have quite an interesting adventure within the far-easterly section of the Soviet Empire.
At least I think it was interesting... the doses of history that Newby presents the reader with at each stop started to look and sound pretty much the same. As the Agency man prevented them from getting to know much about any of their traveling companions, the human interest element was a little sparse. I did enjoy the descriptions of the landscape, for the most part, and the side trips they made in the few cities they were allowed to visit were intriguing. Newby's writing was generally entertaining, but I think the material was perhaps a bit too overwhelming to fit into the format. I found myself wishing for a Russian history Cliff Notes edition as I was reading.
Recommended to travelogue buffs who are looking for something a bit more meaty than Bill Bryson. Try to find it at the library, tho.
November 17, 2007
My traveling obsessed friend recommended it. Barely made it through this book. Lets face it, it's a long boring train ride, and there is not much that can be done about a book on the topic.
There was absolutely no need to tell the reader what time it is in Moscow and on the train all the time. Also, no need to talk about all the technical details of the train, and a long list of other boring topics. He complains about how boring another visit to a soviet wire factory would be, but in essence that's how the book reads. Another visit to a boring place that's hard to write about.
There was absolutely no need to tell the reader what time it is in Moscow and on the train all the time. Also, no need to talk about all the technical details of the train, and a long list of other boring topics. He complains about how boring another visit to a soviet wire factory would be, but in essence that's how the book reads. Another visit to a boring place that's hard to write about.
July 29, 2019
I am determined to one day ‘do’ the Trans-Siberian Express and the only regret is that the USSR’s demise makes it a whole less interesting and adventurous prospect. This is a relatively interesting travelogue and does well to provide historical and cultural background while the food on offer sounds particularly and predictably dreadful (mind you, so would it have been on British rail in 1977). The issue though is the datedness of the approach – to put it politely. Newby provides his appraisal of the 'girls' he encounters on the trip, makes sweeping generalisations of a racial nature and can’t resist showing off his private school credentials. Thank goodness that we’ve all now moved on and these people have been jettisoned to the outer reaches of society….
September 1, 2023
This journey along the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Nakhodka, not Vladivostok – that was a military naval base and so closed to foreigners – was a little disappointing. The book was published in 1978 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics still existed and is full of the author not being able to describe all of the things he and his wife were forbidden to see or even know about. As a result so much of the text is made up of quotations and recollections from the works of earlier travellers, mainly during the Tsarist Empire, that one wonders if this is a travelogue or a history lesson of the times before the Revolution.
There is plenty of gentle humour as the Newbys, Eric and Wanda, navigate their way through a rampant bureaucracy, official guides (spies), generally awful food but with plenty of vodka, language difficulties, more vodka, a visit to a Buryat collective near Lake Baikal, a huge celebratory dinner with lots more vodka and Georgian champagne and Azerbaijani brandy, and a railway that is a marvel of engineering but is hardly tourist friendly and, strangely, not much vodka on board – well, not officially. The few photographs often seem more revealing than the text and it is a wonder there are any, given the Soviet disapproval of foreigners photographing anything or anyone.
I really felt sorry for the Newby's guide, or government employed minder, Mischa – not surprisingly there is no photograph of him. He clearly has a very difficult job imposing a manual full of restrictions while not wanting to be nastily officious. One gets the impression that beneath his dogged stance of following the rules he is really a friendly guy longing to speak openly but too afraid of who might be listening. I suppose that is the way of such systems, even the spies are spied on and Mischa is sometimes painfully aware of the tightrope he is walking on.
The author does his best to integrate himself into the community of his fellow travellers but unless vodka intervenes it is very difficult. Decades of propaganda have convinced so many to be distrustful and believe the most benign of questions or approaches are proof of probable espionage. The result is a view of the Soviet people that reflects the general ideas that were prevalent in the 1970s. There have to be female train conductors built like weight-lifters, everyone shuts up when a uniform is present, all Soviet citizens are equal but some are more equal than others and are not worried about displaying their affluence, the atmosphere is heavy with alcohol, and even in Spring it is still cold. It is one travel story I would not like to emulate.
There is plenty of gentle humour as the Newbys, Eric and Wanda, navigate their way through a rampant bureaucracy, official guides (spies), generally awful food but with plenty of vodka, language difficulties, more vodka, a visit to a Buryat collective near Lake Baikal, a huge celebratory dinner with lots more vodka and Georgian champagne and Azerbaijani brandy, and a railway that is a marvel of engineering but is hardly tourist friendly and, strangely, not much vodka on board – well, not officially. The few photographs often seem more revealing than the text and it is a wonder there are any, given the Soviet disapproval of foreigners photographing anything or anyone.
I really felt sorry for the Newby's guide, or government employed minder, Mischa – not surprisingly there is no photograph of him. He clearly has a very difficult job imposing a manual full of restrictions while not wanting to be nastily officious. One gets the impression that beneath his dogged stance of following the rules he is really a friendly guy longing to speak openly but too afraid of who might be listening. I suppose that is the way of such systems, even the spies are spied on and Mischa is sometimes painfully aware of the tightrope he is walking on.
The author does his best to integrate himself into the community of his fellow travellers but unless vodka intervenes it is very difficult. Decades of propaganda have convinced so many to be distrustful and believe the most benign of questions or approaches are proof of probable espionage. The result is a view of the Soviet people that reflects the general ideas that were prevalent in the 1970s. There have to be female train conductors built like weight-lifters, everyone shuts up when a uniform is present, all Soviet citizens are equal but some are more equal than others and are not worried about displaying their affluence, the atmosphere is heavy with alcohol, and even in Spring it is still cold. It is one travel story I would not like to emulate.
November 29, 2009
Reading this whilst completing the Trans-Siberian route solo, Newby became my informed, jovial, well-meaning though frequently tedious travel companion.
His attention to the detail of the world's longest train ride is Newby's real forte here. One such example had me staring from the window my 6-berth 'plaskart' compartment in awe as I read of the creatures hidden in the vast Russian steppe that tumbled past my eyes. This fired the imagination as all such travel reads should. and at times it was truly fascinating to compare my 2008 journey with his and time my reading to the point where I was learning about my next port of call just before I reached it.
As a historical documentation of the railway during soviet times this is a real treasure. However, the fact that it was written during such oppressive times is also perhaps its unwitting downfall. Efforts to take the simplest of photographs or to pry any kind of insight from his KGB guide are almost always frustrated, and so too becomes the reader as the pure lack of action during his journey slowly becomes evident. These frustrations are compounded by illness, arguments with travel companions amongst other irritations and it becomes clear that well, he isn't having a very nice trip.
This said, his thoroughly British delivery will charm most and those looking for a thoroughly well-researched and documented work with encyclopedic knowledge of the line will be well-rewarded. Finding it for a pound in a local 2nd hander, I stuffed it into my backpack and set forth to Mother Russia. I hope those reading this will similarly find the time to make the same, stunning journey.
His attention to the detail of the world's longest train ride is Newby's real forte here. One such example had me staring from the window my 6-berth 'plaskart' compartment in awe as I read of the creatures hidden in the vast Russian steppe that tumbled past my eyes. This fired the imagination as all such travel reads should. and at times it was truly fascinating to compare my 2008 journey with his and time my reading to the point where I was learning about my next port of call just before I reached it.
As a historical documentation of the railway during soviet times this is a real treasure. However, the fact that it was written during such oppressive times is also perhaps its unwitting downfall. Efforts to take the simplest of photographs or to pry any kind of insight from his KGB guide are almost always frustrated, and so too becomes the reader as the pure lack of action during his journey slowly becomes evident. These frustrations are compounded by illness, arguments with travel companions amongst other irritations and it becomes clear that well, he isn't having a very nice trip.
This said, his thoroughly British delivery will charm most and those looking for a thoroughly well-researched and documented work with encyclopedic knowledge of the line will be well-rewarded. Finding it for a pound in a local 2nd hander, I stuffed it into my backpack and set forth to Mother Russia. I hope those reading this will similarly find the time to make the same, stunning journey.
January 3, 2018
Eric Newby, his wife, Wanda, Otto the German photographer, and Mischa, their "guide", journey from Moscow to Nakhodka (on the Pacific) by way of the 5,900-mile trans-Siberian railway.
As we journey long each section of the railway, Newby describes the history of that stretch, the local industry (timber, mining, trade, etc.), the people, and the landscape/geology. He introduces us to the great depravations and stomach-turning brutality suffered by the millions of slaves used to build the trans-Siberian, as well as some of the excesses the region enjoyed at the time of writing (though doubtless only by the favoured few). With only one map, at a scale of 1" to 500 miles, it's impossible to identify the scores of locations mentioned, which is a shame given the wealth of information presented, and this restricted my enjoyment this book. Another downer for me was Newby's inability to mention any of the many women he encounters without judging their clothes, hair, legs, and breasts, and whether or not they were "easy on the eye" – which got seriously tiresome. He also contemplates how he could have hit his wife when she won an argument. (My copy is from 1978, and maybe this tone has been edited out of later editions.)
I enjoyed the social history – and that I was able to gain some perspective of this vast country – but overall I found Newby's narration to be too arrogant and judgemental for my taste, and I was glad when I'd finished. It has inspired me to read more about the region, as long as it's by a different author.
As we journey long each section of the railway, Newby describes the history of that stretch, the local industry (timber, mining, trade, etc.), the people, and the landscape/geology. He introduces us to the great depravations and stomach-turning brutality suffered by the millions of slaves used to build the trans-Siberian, as well as some of the excesses the region enjoyed at the time of writing (though doubtless only by the favoured few). With only one map, at a scale of 1" to 500 miles, it's impossible to identify the scores of locations mentioned, which is a shame given the wealth of information presented, and this restricted my enjoyment this book. Another downer for me was Newby's inability to mention any of the many women he encounters without judging their clothes, hair, legs, and breasts, and whether or not they were "easy on the eye" – which got seriously tiresome. He also contemplates how he could have hit his wife when she won an argument. (My copy is from 1978, and maybe this tone has been edited out of later editions.)
I enjoyed the social history – and that I was able to gain some perspective of this vast country – but overall I found Newby's narration to be too arrogant and judgemental for my taste, and I was glad when I'd finished. It has inspired me to read more about the region, as long as it's by a different author.
April 7, 2022
Great fun - Newby descriptions of people and the food and drink are often hilarious. Some fascinating historical detail too.
January 31, 2016
My mother loaned me this book several years ago, for reasons I have not remembered, and it has sat on my shelf unread since then. Even though the title makes it sound like a children's book, it is in fact an enjoyable piece of travel-writing, by an English journalist/author called Eric Newby. This, one of several he has written, describes his journey across the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1977, accompanied by his wife, a German photographer, and a Soviet guide.
I thought it was very well-written, describing the place, culture and the late seventies era in clarity and detail. There is a reasonable amount of accompanying historical context included too, and a tone which is generally respectful and doesn't resort to easy fun-poking at the funny foreigners. Though at times it was slightly dense and hard-going, in general it was educational and amusing - the witty style reminding me a little of TV documentaries of the ilk of 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Roads', and some of the better 'Top Gear' specials.
I thought it was very well-written, describing the place, culture and the late seventies era in clarity and detail. There is a reasonable amount of accompanying historical context included too, and a tone which is generally respectful and doesn't resort to easy fun-poking at the funny foreigners. Though at times it was slightly dense and hard-going, in general it was educational and amusing - the witty style reminding me a little of TV documentaries of the ilk of 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Roads', and some of the better 'Top Gear' specials.
January 15, 2014
Great book, about train travel in communist Russia. Wonder how much has changed.
February 26, 2018
This book was parts interesting, hilarious, and tedious. I don't have the exact words in front of me anymore, as I've returned the book to the library, but at one point the author considered using the following dedication: "To the agency, without whose help this book would have been written much more cheaply, and at least a year sooner." When I borrowed the book, I didn't quite grasp what I was getting into -- it was recommended (of course I don't remember offhand by whom but it's written in one of my journals somewhere and I'll fill that bit in later) as funny. It was definitely funny, and I love the way he ribbed his Russian "minder", but really some of the humor was at his own expense due to pure frustration. There were limits to what he could report in the book and what he could photograph, and to be honest, I gave up a few times and put the book down for a while. The fact that this poor guy was stuck on the train for eight days with no ability to get away from the situation... I empathize.
He talked about the difficulties of trying to find an apology in his phrase book and finding "Table for two for dinner, please." Also, there was a part where he was speaking to an employee on the train who was Russian but didn't speak English, so they spoke in German. There was no translation. This has happened to me exactly never before, so I was feeling rather smug that I could understand the conversation. Usually when reading books about Russia there's a smattering of untranslated French in there that I just wind up not having any idea what it's about, so thank you Mr. Newby, for instilling my confidence in my ability to read German.
Would I have read this book if I knew then what I know now? Probably. There were some entertaining moments. But I probably would have put it further back on my reading list because it did slow my momentum for the year for sure.
He talked about the difficulties of trying to find an apology in his phrase book and finding "Table for two for dinner, please." Also, there was a part where he was speaking to an employee on the train who was Russian but didn't speak English, so they spoke in German. There was no translation. This has happened to me exactly never before, so I was feeling rather smug that I could understand the conversation. Usually when reading books about Russia there's a smattering of untranslated French in there that I just wind up not having any idea what it's about, so thank you Mr. Newby, for instilling my confidence in my ability to read German.
Would I have read this book if I knew then what I know now? Probably. There were some entertaining moments. But I probably would have put it further back on my reading list because it did slow my momentum for the year for sure.
November 3, 2023
The author captures his experience crossing Russia using the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1977. The method for recounting this experience is unfortunately done in three ineffective ways. First, the book is filled with too many pop-culture references (for his time) that make reading difficult. Second, every other page is dedicated to descriptive landscape imagery, which feels repetitive and is immediately irrelevant as the train moves onward. Third, the author presents short histories of towns he passes through, but the details are to sparse and the timeframe too broad, sometimes trying to conjoin history from the 13th century and his current experience.
The book is worthwhile to read for its insight into 1970s Russian culture for two main reasons. First, the author shares that pictures aren't allowed to be taken, with many examples to prove his point. Second, he references great works on Siberia, which demonstrate that the "Communist Culture" of lies and forced labor came before that great political movement (Siberia and The Exile Movement by George Kennan).
On a personal note, this is the third book I have read by Eric Newby. This is his weakest performance from my experience and his other works are much more impressive (When the snow comes, they will take you away - and - A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush).
The book is worthwhile to read for its insight into 1970s Russian culture for two main reasons. First, the author shares that pictures aren't allowed to be taken, with many examples to prove his point. Second, he references great works on Siberia, which demonstrate that the "Communist Culture" of lies and forced labor came before that great political movement (Siberia and The Exile Movement by George Kennan).
On a personal note, this is the third book I have read by Eric Newby. This is his weakest performance from my experience and his other works are much more impressive (When the snow comes, they will take you away - and - A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush).
July 7, 2025
The premise for this book is very interesting, but in the end it falls short.
Eric Newby rides the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is the longest Railway in the world. He goes from Moscow, Russia, across Siberia, ending in Vladivostok at the Sea of Japan, spanning over 5,772 miles (9,289 kilometers).
Newby rode the train in the 70s during the existence of the USSR. His group was accompanied by a KGB man and many places were off limits to Newby.
I enjoyed learning about the history of Russian, the construction of railroad, and the history of each city/town passed. However, most of the book was dull. A lot of time just riding on a train. Add in Newby's obvious sexism in his descriptions of men vs his descriptions of women.
Will say this book was interesting, but that was about it.
Eric Newby rides the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is the longest Railway in the world. He goes from Moscow, Russia, across Siberia, ending in Vladivostok at the Sea of Japan, spanning over 5,772 miles (9,289 kilometers).
Newby rode the train in the 70s during the existence of the USSR. His group was accompanied by a KGB man and many places were off limits to Newby.
I enjoyed learning about the history of Russian, the construction of railroad, and the history of each city/town passed. However, most of the book was dull. A lot of time just riding on a train. Add in Newby's obvious sexism in his descriptions of men vs his descriptions of women.
Will say this book was interesting, but that was about it.
July 15, 2019
An enjoyable writing style, humorous and witty, descriptive and entertaining. There was a bit too much historical narrative due to the authors restrictions in the USSR, and I did glaze over at times, especially reading the place and personal names. There is a map, but not detailed enough to follow the in's and outs of his historical stories, making them difficult at times. However some of the dialog was very funny and the characters vividly drawn, making the book worth reading. I had assumed that the restrictions on Newby's movements, interviewing and photography were entirely due to the communist regime, however he describes the exact same restrictions imposed on travellers to the region in the 1800's, so it seems to be something peculiar to the area!
March 16, 2021
I read Eric Newby's book on the Hindu Kush about 20 years ago. I think it is seen as one of his best travel books. This book has too many limitations placed on it as Eric Newby and his wife, Wanda, travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad during the height of the Soviet Era in 1977. They take a photographer and a Soviet minder with them. They were only let out at certain key cities and then had to follow Soviet tours while there. Much of the book is how Newby tried to battle the Soviet bureaucracy on the train and at the stops. Mainly, he brings out life on the train, the landscape and the history of places they go through. It gives a good sense of the train ride but I don't think this is seen as one of his strongest travel books.
August 2, 2025
While up to the present time, this is probably my least favorite of the works of Eric Newby, it still is by Newby & he is a marvelous writer. The material covered is a Cold War Era trip on the Trans Siberian Railroad from Moscow to the Pacific Ocean port where Japanese tourists embark. Other than the fact that the book contains no significant surprises, what detracts is the dated, anachronistic sexism. Every female Newby encounters is subjected to an evaluation based on sex appeal. Otherwise the book does a very accurate job of what it would have been (would be?) like to ride the Trans Siberian which is more boring than anything else. Russia is a very big country!
March 14, 2019
This very interesting book was put together when the Soviet Union was still in power. Newby tells as much as he can about the Trans Siberian Railway, its landscapes, people, stations etc. He is limited in what he and his wife and companions can see because of Soviet secrecy. Much is made of heavy drinking by the people , not just of Vodka, but of many other fermented drinks.
I wonder what a traveler would find in todays Russia on the same trip. A very interesting read by a wonderful British writer.
I wonder what a traveler would find in todays Russia on the same trip. A very interesting read by a wonderful British writer.
October 31, 2021
I don't know why it has taken me so long to read this book. I'm glad I got round to it in the end because I did enjoy the read. I am a big fan of Eric Newby - they don't make them like him anymore. One of the old-school travel writers. He is very witty and you have to have some sense of humour travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway. I love his landscape and people descriptions. His choice of words is always appropriate for the different characters he meets and talks to. The descriptions of the conductresses, I found particularly funny and his witty remarks about the Russian bill of fare available to him and his fellow passengers on the train.
It isn't his best book but certainly worth a read.
It isn't his best book but certainly worth a read.
November 18, 2020
I liked the more personal parts of this, his interactions with his wife and other travelling companies. But he spends most of this on a train so there’s lots of history that becomes a bit dull in places. It’s also interesting to remember that people used to have to take maps and books when they travelled and now we can mostly just take our phones .
June 26, 2017
Of things that I will never do ,of an era long past an insight to Siberia of the 70's with the history of all the ares past through the trans-Siberian train . Made me to want read an updated account of current day situation of some of the main cities .
July 14, 2023
Now I long to travel through Siberia... It offers a nice glimpse into the Soviet character, showing how it did not rise with Bolshevism, but took centuries and many cruel tsars, adventurers, tribal chiefs or apparatchiks to develop.
February 3, 2019
Made me want to do the journey myself.
June 21, 2022
Read this year's ago and I still think about it what a great writer Newby was.
August 4, 2020
Having read “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” and “Love and War in the Apennines” (both worth 4 stars in my opinion) and thinking about a trip on the Trans Siberian railway, I was pleased to discover Eric Newby had written an account of that journey. As a student I had made the train ride from London to Athens and back via Brindisi and Rome, so had an idea of some of the privations involved. Newby would make a good travel guide, I thought.
For some reason I put the book down at page 23 and did not pick it up again for 30 years.
Leaving for what was forecast to be a very wet walking holiday in the English Lake District in February I noticed the Big Red Train Ride looking at me reproachfully from the section of my bookshelf reserved for unfinished business. So I grabbed it and left.
What a disappointment. I get the impression Newby did not enjoy writing this book. He certainly did not enjoy the journey or the company of Mischa the InTourist guide or Otto the German photographer who accompanied him and his wife. In my Penguin edition the few black and white photos were all shot by Eric or Wanda, and there is no picture of the chap in the wooden hat referred to by other reviewers.
Much of the book is taken up with dry statistics and lists of what the cities en route manufacture. I suspect he just handed pages from InTourist leaflets to his typists and instructed them to copy the stuff at the relevant places in order to boost the word count.
Here are some statistics of my own. Moscow shares the same latitude as Glasgow. At the most northerly point of the journey (Kirov), you are still south of Wick in Caithness. Novosibirsk is south of Keswick in the Lake District.
I never did the Trans Siberian train ride, thank God. Newby would have put me off if I had read the book when I was considering it.
Spoiler alert. Here is how the book ends. “ ‘I’ve had enough of Siberia, and we’ve all had enough of Mischa, and I’m fed up with your damn maps. I want to go home.’ So we did”. That’s all you need to read really.
For some reason I put the book down at page 23 and did not pick it up again for 30 years.
Leaving for what was forecast to be a very wet walking holiday in the English Lake District in February I noticed the Big Red Train Ride looking at me reproachfully from the section of my bookshelf reserved for unfinished business. So I grabbed it and left.
What a disappointment. I get the impression Newby did not enjoy writing this book. He certainly did not enjoy the journey or the company of Mischa the InTourist guide or Otto the German photographer who accompanied him and his wife. In my Penguin edition the few black and white photos were all shot by Eric or Wanda, and there is no picture of the chap in the wooden hat referred to by other reviewers.
Much of the book is taken up with dry statistics and lists of what the cities en route manufacture. I suspect he just handed pages from InTourist leaflets to his typists and instructed them to copy the stuff at the relevant places in order to boost the word count.
Here are some statistics of my own. Moscow shares the same latitude as Glasgow. At the most northerly point of the journey (Kirov), you are still south of Wick in Caithness. Novosibirsk is south of Keswick in the Lake District.
I never did the Trans Siberian train ride, thank God. Newby would have put me off if I had read the book when I was considering it.
Spoiler alert. Here is how the book ends. “ ‘I’ve had enough of Siberia, and we’ve all had enough of Mischa, and I’m fed up with your damn maps. I want to go home.’ So we did”. That’s all you need to read really.
May 10, 2022
I think the premise of the memoir sort of undercuts its ability to be a good travel book. You mostly stay put on trains! Agatha Christie can put in a murder, and maybe a memoirist can take the long train ride because on Unresolved Issues, but Newby is just doing this for fun. And it DOES sound fun, and a bit weird, and worth doing. But the nice thing about a train is looking out the window, and it's difficult to communicate that well. There's not much of a narrative attached to it.
I did enjoy his interactions with Soviet bureaucracy, and the places where the bureaucracy has frayed. If you liked Elif Batuman's The Dispossessed, this has some of that vibe going on. Although Batuman could move around, and Newby is very limited.
The main thing I learned was that the impulses which prompted people to create "Russia" as we think of it are essentially foreign to me. Every time there was an historical interlude (otherwise, how would you fill the book?) I thought, "but why would you do that when you could do anything else?" Probably not that helpful a thing to learn.
I did enjoy his interactions with Soviet bureaucracy, and the places where the bureaucracy has frayed. If you liked Elif Batuman's The Dispossessed, this has some of that vibe going on. Although Batuman could move around, and Newby is very limited.
The main thing I learned was that the impulses which prompted people to create "Russia" as we think of it are essentially foreign to me. Every time there was an historical interlude (otherwise, how would you fill the book?) I thought, "but why would you do that when you could do anything else?" Probably not that helpful a thing to learn.
October 5, 2013
An account of travelling from Moscow to Vladivostock on the Trans-Siberian Express train in 1964. The author was accompanied by his wife (who features in the anecdotes) and a minder from the the Soviet travel agency, who organised educational trips for him and other foreign travellers at the towns at which they disembark. the observations about the train, the other passengers and the cities they visit are interspersed with extracts from other travellers' accounts from the late medieval period to the twentieth century. It's not some much a travel book, as a revealing, and sometime funny, description of the Soviet way of life and the restrictions on residents and visitors. Reading it now, of course, makes it a historical record of that way of life rather than the immediacy it would have had at the time. Still interesting and entertainingly written.
December 4, 2008
Newby is a bit off his game in this account of a trip across the Soviet Union by train in the 1970s. He keeps me reading because I know I'll find some nuggets of remarkable description if I persist, but these are widely-spaced between long periods of not much. Also, too much padding with random historical facts drawn from dull books.
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