UK author Christopher Robbins, was on an airplane when he discovered his seat mate was traveling to Kazakhstan to meet his online bride.

Although Robbins is a travel author, he was totally unfamiliar with Kazakhstan. His seatmate enlightened him with the bit he knew – tulips were first domesticated there – as were apples. Robbins determined to go there and explore this land so unknown to the West. The result is fascinating and engaging.

Some of the highlights I enjoyed:
“You could put Texas or France in it five times over – or the whole of western Europe” P4

- Apples and tulips were first domesticated there.

- Traditional tribe berkutchies still hunt with Golden Eagles

- Astana, the modern capital city was created out of nothing in the middle of the empty steppes

- the author met with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and was invited along on his tour to the southern parts of K and saw: -
- Soviet space launch site
- Soviet nuclear testing site and nuclear weapons
- environmental disaster of Ural Sea – too much water removed to irrigate cotton leaving sea salty instead of fresh water and destroying agriculture in surrounding area

- The remote steppes were the location of the Soviet gulag system made famous by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (but as Solzhenitsyn opposed Kazakhstan separation from Russia, Solzhenitsyn is not honored by the Kazakhs) Trotsky and Fyodor Dostoyevsky were also exiled there among thousands and thousand of others.

- politics before and after the breakup of the Soviet Union as of 2008 (publication of the book).

This was written with humor and warmth and I enjoyed reading it. ( )

A good overview of the country and fun to read as well. ( )

I learned a lot about Kazakhstan from this book. The writing was mostly engaging, though I got a little bored at times, especially during some of the parts about the not so recent history of Kazakhstan. The book makes the country seem more real to me, and I was surprised by how shockingly little I knew about the country and how wrong some of my previous impressions were.

Also, I learned that not only are apples from Kazakhstan, but so is Vladimir Zhirinovsky. (In case you didn't finish his biography he is incredibly racist and crazy.) ( )

Amazing, the things I don't know! ( )

A very interesting book about a place very few people have ever heard about, unless they have seen the annoying "Borat" (who is obviously not a reliable guide). The author includes some in-depth interviews with the country's controversial president and spent several years getting to know this oil-rich distant land. ( )