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Where the West Ends: Stories From the Middle East, the Balkans, the Black Sea, and the Caucasus Kindle Edition
Praise for Where the West Ends
“Hunter S. Thompson drove to Vegas while tripping: big deal. Michael J. Totten drove to Iraq on a whim and a bad tire while suffering the shuddering flu. Lucky for us, he brought back tales of bribery, bad architecture, Kurdish love, Yanks in unexpected places, and the cigarette smuggler desperate to schlep some smokes past the guys with guns. And that’s just chapter one.” – James Lileks, author of Falling Up the Stairs
“Of all the journalists now alive and writing in English, there are few whose reporting interests me more than Michael Totten's—in fact, none that I can think of offhand. I spent days thinking about Where the West Ends, deeply affected by the eerie melancholy it evokes and the questions it raises about the borderlands of old empires and the places people don't visit for pleasure.” – Claire Berlinksi, author of Menace in Europe
“Michael J. Totten goes on road trips to where the West ends. Every good foreign corespondent should spend some time as a tourist. A higher wisdom is achieved. Reporters are insiders, but it's outsiders who get to look in. Reporters think they're exploring, but tourists know they're lost.” P.J. O’Rourke, author of Holidays in Hell
“At a time when news organizations are limiting their coverage of international affairs to stay-at-home commentators, Michael J. Totten harks back to the golden age of foreign correspondence.” Journalist and screenwriter Matthew Clayfield
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateAugust 5, 2012
- File size453 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
He has taken road trips to war zones, sneaked into police states under false pretenses, dodged incoming rocket and mortar fire, stayed in some of the worst hotels ever built anywhere, slipped past the hostile side of a front line, been accused of being a spy, received death threats from terrorists, and been mugged by Egyptian police officers. When he's not doing or writing about these things, he writes novels.
His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic among numerous other publications, and he's a contributing editor at World Affairs and City Journal. He has reported widely from the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, and the Balkans. A former resident of Beirut, he lives in Oregon with his wife and two cats.
Product details
- ASIN : B008TIDGC4
- Publisher : Belmont Estate Books (August 5, 2012)
- Publication date : August 5, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 453 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 282 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,291,517 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,495 in History of Eastern Europe
- #1,811 in History of the Middle East
- #6,143 in Middle East History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Michael J. Totten is an award-winning journalist and prize-winning author whose very first book, The Road to Fatima Gate, won the Washington Institute Book Prize. His novel Resurrection has been optioned for film.
He has taken road trips to war zones, sneaked into police states under false pretenses, dodged incoming rocket and mortar fire, stayed in some of the worst hotels ever built anywhere, slipped past the hostile side of a front line, been accused of being a spy, received death threats from terrorists, and been mugged by the police in Egypt. When he's not doing or writing about these things, he writes novels.
His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic among numerous other publications, and he's a contributing editor at World Affairs and City Journal. He has reported widely from the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, and the Balkans. A former resident of Beirut, he lives in Oregon with his wife and two cats.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book interesting and enjoyable. They appreciate the author's writing style, which is accessible and well-written. The information provided is informative and insightful, providing a significant introduction to the subject matter. The geography aspect opens their eyes to attitudes of different cultures that don't normally get much media coverage. However, opinions differ on the narrative quality - some find the stories engaging and adventurous, while others feel they lack purpose.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book interesting and worthwhile. They appreciate the insights, history, and first-hand account of real life on the eastern edge of the Western world. The book is enjoyable for readers who enjoy stories about different cultures and hiking, walking, biking.
"I found the places that the author visited to be very fascinating, some in a negative and somewhat frightening way, and some places to be warm and..." Read more
"...All in all, this book is interesting both from the perspective of the travelogue it is and from the American biases it displays...." Read more
"This is a great and engaging book, and important knowledge to have about some fascinating parts of the world that make the news rarely, for a few..." Read more
"...in a travelogue would make for a worthwhile read, but the book is further enhanced (in general) with reflections about the factors that shaped each..." Read more
Customers enjoy the author's writing style and find it engaging. They appreciate the well-written accounts of travels in various locations. The book is described as authentic, but not polished professional prose. It is written in an accessible and adventurous style, with great descriptions and dialogues. Readers are impressed with the author's daring and risk-taking in visiting war zones.
"...I was also very impressed with the author's daring and risk-taking in order to visit war zones and very remote areas that are off the beaten track..." Read more
"This is a decent book, written from an educated but still very American-slanted perspective...." Read more
"...He is a gifted writer and he is also very familiar with his subject matter...." Read more
"...Indeed, the book proved to be so readable and on target with respect to the places I traveled that I came home and read the other three parts..." Read more
Customers find the book informative and entertaining. They appreciate the author's insights into history and personal observations. The book provides a significant introduction to this part of the world and is a great way to learn some fundamentals. Readers mention it's interesting reading from the perspective of a journalist, providing a glimpse into the lives of specific countries and people there.
"...Europe much of my adult life, and I feel that the author imparted a lot of interesting facts and personal observations that made this book both..." Read more
"This is a great and engaging book, and important knowledge to have about some fascinating parts of the world that make the news rarely, for a few..." Read more
"...Where the West Ends is a worthwhile read that strikes a nice balance between being informative and entertaining as Totten explores the Balkans,..." Read more
"...summary, Where the West Ends is a great, low-cost, high-benefit way to learn some fundamentals about ethnic conflict and political (in)stability in..." Read more
Customers find the book provides a clear picture of Eastern societies and their cultures. They say it demystifies people from an American perspective. The book explores history, politics, and culture in depth, inspiring readers to learn more about these topics.
"...from the perspective of the travelogue it is and from the American biases it displays. I would recommend it." Read more
"...Each chapter can stand alone as a vignette but chapters are further organized by region which helps provide greater context to understanding life..." Read more
"...this book, After reading Part II, I was impressed by the fresh, multi-dimensional, and ethnically neutral perspective provided by the author with..." Read more
"...the wild and desolate roads of the region as well as a wide variety of cities and towns...." Read more
Customers have different views on the narrative quality. Some find the author's stories about his travels engaging and make them feel like they are there. Others feel the stories lack purpose and become boring, with clichéd content.
"...camera-holding habits exhibit Totten's freewheeling and adventurous approach to his journey, which helps make for an enjoyable read...." Read more
"...Lost interest and didn't finish it, guess I could give it another try, but that never happened when reading his other stuff." Read more
"I enjoyed learning and reading about his travels along the wild and desolate roads of the region as well as a wide variety of cities and towns...." Read more
"...But the stories seem slightly pointless as the authors boils down his lessons learned into a essential truths before moving on...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2015I found the places that the author visited to be very fascinating, some in a negative and somewhat frightening way, and some places to be warm and friendly. Even though I have no plans to visit this part of the world, it certainly opened my mind to the possibilities. I have been intrigued by the Balkans and Eastern Europe much of my adult life, and I feel that the author imparted a lot of interesting facts and personal observations that made this book both entertaining as well as compelling. I particularly learned a lot about the "Islamic Problem" and it's impacts on the various countries and independent states. It certainly opened my eyes to the realization that not all Muslim-dominated countries in Eastern Europe are unfriendly to Westerners and Christians. However, they do face problems with the fanatic Muslim groups who are trying to bring their influence via money and other coercive methods. Political changes have come about since the author published this book but many of his observations and opinions turned out to be very accurate. I was also very impressed with the author's daring and risk-taking in order to visit war zones and very remote areas that are off the beaten track from Western Civilization. I definitely recommend reading it
- Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2014This is a decent book, written from an educated but still very American-slanted perspective. It's interesting in the way it captures the American view of Eastern Europe and the Middle East while discussing the author's experiences. For starters, not only does he know no language but English (fair enough, I'm more or less monolingual too), but he doesn't bother learning even the most basic words until he's in the countries he visits, figuring he can get around on English alone. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Totten journeys throughout Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, and most of the Balkans and eastern Europe, ending in Ukraine. There are many interesting anecdotes. He spends the first half of the book journeying between pro-American pockets of this part of the world, including Iraqi Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania. He makes a big deal out of the fact that these areas are majority Muslim but pro-American. I'm not sure why - it's not a surprise that many Muslims are pro-American, especially if you consider that the Americans intervened militarily against Iraq and Serbia, which had been oppressing Iraqi Kurds, and Bosniaks and ethnic Albanians respectively. It is interesting that well-financed Islamists are attempting to expand into areas with liberal European Muslims, and he does a decent job of exposing their influence as well as their general failure except for parts of Macedonia. He also emphasizes the pro-Americanism of Poland and Romania and how well the modern states compare to the Communist dictatorships. At the same time, he almost skips over Serbia except to explain that the people there are generally angry that the US bombed them in 1999.
The most interesting part given the events that have happened in the last seven months is his travel to Ukraine. All along, he seems oblivious to several things that would be obvious to anyone who has actually taken the time to learn about Ukraine. He spends a night and the next day trapped on potholed roads in impoverished parts of western Ukraine (including Lviv, which he'd expected to be richer and more Western). Both he and his travel companion did not only know no Ukrainian or Russian; they didn't even bother to learn the Cyrillic alphabet, which can be learned in a few days. They therefore had no idea how to pronounce anything or read signs until they finally sat down and learned it. He seemed to expect that Ukrainians would somehow know English and was bewildered by the fact that Russian was the lingua franca of the post-Soviet world. Totten and his friend then visited Kiev and Odessa, which they much preferred, and also Crimea, which he accurately states may rejoin Russia someday (although I doubt he expected it to be as soon as March 2014). At no point does he catch on to the fact that the pro-Western parts of Ukraine, Kiev excepted, are poorer than the eastern and southern parts of the country, and that Russia is far richer than Ukraine. He even keeps emphasizing that his friend has been to Russia and was still surprised at western Ukraine's poverty, implying that Russia is generally worse-off than Ukraine (when it isn't, socioeconomically if not politically).
All in all, this book is interesting both from the perspective of the travelogue it is and from the American biases it displays. I would recommend it.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2014This is a great and engaging book, and important knowledge to have about some fascinating parts of the world that make the news rarely, for a few months at a time, before fading into obscurity. I hesitated giving it five stars, though, due to what I know is missing. Most of the writing is based on blog posts - nothing wrong with that - but the blog posts had photos, and the book, even the Kindle edition, does not. One section of the book ends with a now-deceased moderate Muslim urging Totten to share his photos of fundamentalists with the world, but they're not here. Perhaps there's a reason for that - licensing, cost-to-publish - but it's still a shame. Fortunately, if you do a web search on portions of text, you can find most of the original blog posts with photos. But not all of them have online versions, and those online version might someday disappear; I believe the photos accompanying the portion on Western Ukraine have already been removed due to the text being re-posted as a teaser for the book. So it would be good if eventually this and Totten's other books were reissued with the missing photos.
Top reviews from other countries
- Daniel DrumeaReviewed in France on May 31, 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars Liked it quite a bit
Sorry for the French readers but this being an English book I think they will manage. The "Where the West Ends" brings a street-level image of all those countries. I have never imagined them this way and now I feel better informed and probably my expectations are closer to reality about how they think and what they do over there. The discussion with regular people I find illuminating. Well, I think they are ordinary...I am Romanian and I noticed that the interviewed people from my country are actually well known politicians and MPs. It's true that the man on the street might not be this articulated. The chapter was mainly about the overthrowing of Ceausescu in 1989, not very interesting; this was 24 years ago and we largely moved on. All in all, a very nice read and I keep following Mr. Totten and his blog.
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2012
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional cultural insights
Remarkably brave and insightful writer who keeps one engrossed while imparting a lot of information. He manages to get right 'inside' the issues while remaining impartial in his reporting.
- Aleksandar GeorgievReviewed in Germany on November 26, 2012
4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice
As a travel book - very nice. Gets a bit too political at times, but considering the whole impression... definitely a good book.
- Jason James SmartReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Very informative journey through a whole raft of former Soviet nations. Great narrative, interesting history and some elements of humour made this a book I can happily recommend. I've been to many of the countries described in the book, and even stayed at a few of the same hotels! That made me chuckle!
- S.J.EastReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2014
3.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read as a first introduction to the area
Written by a journalist on a personal trip. Viewed from an American standpoint. Easy to read as a first introduction to the area. However the subject of the title is huge and complex and this book only dips a toe in the ocean.