Belarus

by Nigel Roberts

Overview

Belarus remains the most inaccessible, unknown and misunderstood country in Europe. This new guide – the first to focus on the Republic of Belarus – therefore offers a rare opportunity to study a country and its people as they really are, before the rest of the world catches on.
Anyone with an interest in history and sociology will be fascinated by the continuation of traditional rural pastimes and industries where a horse and cart is still in use. There are also vast areas of marshes, lakes and rivers, which are of particular appeal to ecologists and environmentalists.
Slav and Belarussian cultural monuments, churches, monasteries and castles dating back to the Middle Ages, are explored in detail.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784776022
Publisher:	Bradt Publications UK
Publication date:	12/07/2018
Edition description:	Fourth edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Nigel Roberts first visited Belarus in 2001 and worked on sustainable development projects there with rural communities blighted by the Chernobyl catastrophe for 14 years. By profession a lawyer, though he has now left that life behind, he is also a Russian speaker. His interest in the former Soviet Union was kindled as a boy and since then he has researched and travelled widely in the area. Since publication of the first edition of this Bradt guide, he has written about his travels in Belarus for a number of print and online periodicals, particularly concerning the close relationship he has developed with communities and families in the district of Vetka. Over 16 years he has developed a comprehensive portfolio of contacts amongst ordinary people, broadcast, print and online journalists, the tourism industry, local government, central government ministries and diplomats within Belarus.

Read an Excerpt

'One day, perhaps soon, I shall sit down to write a travelogue by way of homage to the truly astonishing people that I have met; it may or may not include the aged babooshka whom I was foolish enough, in a moment of utter madness and entirely baseless bravado, to challenge to a drinking contest. After an evening of sumptuous but simple provender in a rural homestead close to the Russian border, we sat down to exchange traditional songs, tell stories and debate big issues. Almost everyone you meet has an enviable grasp of significant international affairs. The level of intellectual debate on matters of relevance to the future of the planet and to society puts us to shame in the West. One toast followed another as each topic of conversation came to a head, then we reached the point at which only she and I had yet to refuse the inevitable invitation for our glasses to be filled to the brim. My exhortations for the granny to drain hers met with a nonchalant look of utter indifference. Her timing was perfect; having milked the moment for every last drop of drama, she proceeded to raise the glass to her lips, then slowly but steadily, drank to the bottom before returning it to the table with precision and a further look of indifference, this time, bordering on contempt. I should have seen the signs and backed away in shame. But I persisted. And as my foolish bravado led me on, she maintained her steady hand, inscrutable visage and a clear resolve to see me off. I’m told that it was wonderful spectator sport and that I didn’t admit defeat for at least four toasts after the first look of fear came into my eyes. And the babooshka? The only indication of any slight effect of the vodka was that she sang louder and louder, but no less melodiously. That apart, not a single word passed between us.’

Table of Contents

·Introduction Part One General Information Chapter 1: Background Information Chapter 2: Practical Information Part Two The Guide Chapter 3: Minsk City and Oblast Chapter 4: Brest City and Oblast Chapter 5: Grodno City and Oblast Chapter 6: Vitebsk City and Oblast Chapter 7: Mogilev City and Oblast Chapter 8: Gomel City and Oblast Appendix 1 – Language Appendix 2 – Further Information Index

Editorial Reviews

‘Nigel Roberts’ new guidebook to Belarus, just published by Bradt Travel Guides, is authoritative and insightful … This is the Belarus which is very competently mapped in the first ever English guidebook to the country … Nigel Roberts, author of the new volume, has produced a text that is authoritative, insightful and helpful for travellers to the country … Getting to grips with Belarus isn’t easy. Roberts has managed to get beyond Soviet-style monuments and hotels with dreary décor to write with enthusiasm about everything from Belarusian bathhouses to Old Believers. He is particularly strong in his accounts of everyday life and culture. The volume has decent coverage of Belarus’ six major cities …Roberts is strong again on national parks and nature reserves, a theme that has always been a feature of so many Bradt guides. And there are some wonderful descriptions of the extreme south-east of the country, an area devastated by fallout from Chernobyl’. Hidden Europe Magazine

From the Publisher