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“The incongruity between their listless apathy on the one hand and their overloaded artillery belts on the other feels both comical and sinister; Turkey is swiftly making the transition from conservative semi-democracy to autarchic security state, and even the most parochial of greenhorn patrolmen is now dressed like the Praetorian Guard.”
― The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
― The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East
“Muttrah and neighbouring Ruwi also offer the city’s most interesting streetlife, and the best view of the patchwork of cultures which make up the city: Omani, Indian and Pakistani, with an occasional hint of Zanzibari, Baluchi and Iranian thrown in for good measure – a living memory of the city’s surprisingly cosmopolitan past.”
― The Rough Guide to Oman
― The Rough Guide to Oman
“It also gives life a richness and unpredictability that endows even the simplest undertakings with an air of challenge and uncertainty.”
― The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain
― The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain
“The Soviet cartographers did not have an easy task creating order out of the Central Asian patchwork of different peoples, languages and clans. Until 1924, the Russians treated Central Asia as one big region which they called Turkestan – Land of the Turks – as most people who lived there spoke Turkic languages. The Russians knew perfectly well that the people of Central Asia belonged to different clans and cultures, but saw no reason to complicate things further. It was difficult enough as it was. People often did not know which nationality they were. In the 1926 consensus, people could name their tribe and family, but could not always”
― Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
― Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
“For some, leaving was a necessity that went under the official name of ‘transition’. We were a society in transition, it was said, moving from socialism to liberalism, from one-party rule to pluralism, from one place to the other. Opportunities would never come to you, unless you went looking for them, like the half-cockerel in the old Albanian folk tale who travels far away, looking for his kismet, and in the end returns full of gold. For others, leaving the country was an adventure, a childhood dream come true or a way to please their parents. There were those who left and never returned. Those who went and came back soon after. Those who turned the organization of movement into a profession, who opened travel agencies or smuggled people on boats. Those who survived, and became rich. Those who survived, and continued to struggle. And those who died trying to cross the border. In”
― Free: Coming of Age at the End of History
― Free: Coming of Age at the End of History
Wayne Trotman’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Wayne Trotman’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
295 books
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60 friends
247 books
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48 friends
327 books
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14 friends
353 books
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154 friends
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