THE SOVIET UNION: A Guide for Travelers

From motels in Minsk to theaters in Talashkino, this encyclopedic sourcebook has everything a traveler ever wanted to know about the Soviet Union--including tips on tipping, traffic regulations, and even useful telephone numbers. The book covers dozens of cities, towns, and villages from the Black Sea to the Caucasus and Asia, and for each provides a historical sketch and information on cultural attractions, shops, cinemas, hotels, and campsites. The impressively detailed tours of Moscow's Kremlin and Leningrad's Hermitage Museum are guidebooks in themselves. The information is offered straight, like Russian vodka, with none of the color or warmth of Russia itself. It is similarly free of the paternalism often found in such guidebooks: Soviet goods are not ""shoddy,"" merely ""below Western standards."" Instead of bemoaning slow Russian restaurant service, the authors advise planning ""two or three hours for any meal but breakfast."" There is some overkill, including a more-than-six-page list of Intourist accredited travel agencies abroad. Nevertheless, the book is packed with facts on more Soviet localities than most people ever heard of, and if you can't take it with you, you'll probably miss something.