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BLACK DRAGON RIVER

Name: BLACK DRAGON RIVER
Author: Dominic Ziegler
ISBN: 978-1-59420-367-1

A JOURNEY DOWN THE AMUR RIVER AT THE BORDERLANDS OF EMPIRES

by Dominic Ziegler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 10, 2015

Rich in history but short on personal reflection, this book is more for Asian history buffs than fans of travel literature.

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A journalist’s account of his travels along the Amur, a spectacular but largely uncelebrated river on the border between Russia and China.

The Amur is the ninth largest river in the world. Yet for Economist Asia editor Ziegler, it remained “the longest river [he] had never heard of.” As he was to learn, part of the river’s mystery stemmed from the numerous name changes it had undergone over time. The Manchus once called it Sahaliyan Ula, or the Black River, while modern Russians call it the Amure, a name they derived from an old Daurian word (Amur) that meant “good peace.” In this book, Ziegler chronicles his travels along the length of the Amur from its Mongolian source, the Onon River, to its endpoint 2,826 miles west in the Strait of Tartary. His journey, which he made by horse, Jeep, and train, took him through difficult yet unforgettable landscapes and brought him into contact with a host of intriguing individuals. However, his narrative is far more concerned with setting forth the complex history of both the river and the two nations it separates than with his own impressions of places and people. Ziegler begins his historical account with the story of Genghis Khan, who learned to fish in the Onon. His violence and aggression not only led to the creation of the Mongolian Empire, but also permanently marked that region afterward. More than seven centuries later, Russian czars obsessed with the idea that Russian greatness depended on expanding into China fought and killed their way east while focusing on the Amur as their path to a strategic port in the Pacific. Ziegler is exceptionally knowledgeable about the Amur region and its relationship to the current tensions that define the China-Russia relationship, but more often than not, the historical and political information he offers overwhelms the travel narrative.

Rich in history but short on personal reflection, this book is more for Asian history buffs than fans of travel literature.

Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-59420-367-1

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Penguin Press

Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.