"The acclaimed author of Sovietistan travels along the seemingly endless Russian border and reveals the deep and pervasive influence it has had across half the globe."--Book jacket. Imperial, communist or autocratic, Russia has always been a towering and intimidating neighbor. What would it be like to traverse the entirety of the Russian periphery to examine its effects on those closest to her? Fatland has created a book about Russia-- without ever entering Russia itself. He gets to the heart of what it has meant to be the neighbor of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history, as readers experience the colorful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations along with their cultures, their people, their landscapes. -- adapted from jacket