Mirrorlands: Russia, China and Journeys in Between

Works on history and political movements are rich in their dry accounts of events and facts but some suffer from a warmth-deficit. This book is one of the exceptions.

Mirrorlands is an account of the author’s long and colourful journeys in the vast and often overlooked backyards between Russia and China. It provides an enchanting account of places and peoples of the remote crossroads connecting these two worlds. These two worlds, although different in many ways, are mirror images of each other in a range of other aspects.

At the onset, the author explains how at a very early age he became ‘fascinated by both countries’ which in turn, ‘morphed into a near-obsession with the parallels and past and present interconnections between these vast land empires’ (p. xi). The author adopts a unique style which he calls ‘dialogue across time’, thus enriching his solo travels with the accounts ‘left behind by generations of earlier voyagers. Those travelogues proved rich sources of comparison’ (p. xiii).

This article first appeared in the Muslim World Book Review, Spring 2020
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