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FREEBLACK DRAGON RIVER: A JOURNEY DOWN THE AMUR RIVER BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA EBOOK Dominic Ziegler | 368 pages | 10 Nov 2016 | Penguin Putnam Inc | 9780143109891 | English | New York, United States Nanai people - Wikipedia Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. As a crossroads for the great empires of Asia, this area offers journalist Dominic Ziegler a lens with which to examine the societies at Europe's only borderland with east Asia. He follows a journey Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China the river's top to bottom, and weaves the history, ecology and peoples to show a region obsessed with the past—and to show how this region holds a key to the complex and critical relationship between Russia and China today. The terrain it crosses is legendarily difficult to traverse. The known history of the river begins with Genghis Khan and the rise of the Mongolian empire a millennium ago, and the story of the region has been one of aggression and conquest ever since. The modern history of the river is the story of Russia's push across the Eurasian landmass to China. For China, the Amur is a symbol of national humiliation and Western imperial land seizure; to Russia it is a symbol of national regeneration, its New World dreams and eastern prospects. Russia launched a grab in and took from China a chunk of territory equal Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China size nearly to France and Germany combined. Later, the region was the site for atrocities meted out on the Russian far east in the twentieth century during the Russian civil war and under Stalin. The long shared history on the Amur has conditioned the way China and Russia behave toward each other—and toward the outside world. Not only is the Amur a key to Putinism, its history is also embedded in an ongoing clash of empires with the West. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. More Details Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Black Dragon Riverplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Dec 29, Tuck rated it really liked it Shelves: chechnya-russia-ussreuropamusic-and-othersnatural-historypre-wwisailing-and-fightingBlack Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and Chinawestern-rural-with-tractors-horsepenguin-bookswine-and-food. Very nice book about the history and geography of amur river region, and the history of east of Russia, the world of mongol ia toothe north of china, the homelands of lots of indian tribes. Lots of history, but mostly Russian and ussr. It is the same today. It used to stick in the craw of Russian imperialists that their newly seized Far Eastern lands depended upon Chinese and to a lesser extent Korean labor to secure and develop them. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese contract workers were brought in to mine, fishand log. In the Far East the Chinese built the railways, the roads, the military garrisons. They made bricks and lime, and they cut stone. They laid out city streets and threw up municipal buildings. They brewed beer, canned salmon, and stuffed sausages. Chinese workers were well organized and able to put up with hardship. Only for the relatively careful work of plastering, joinery, and oven building were Russians preferred over Chinese in the Russian Far East. Today, Chinese contract workers are in demand again in gold mines and in the lumberyards stripping out the taiga: no days off, ascetic living conditions, and bound, as a century ago, to a headman with opportunities for exploitation. Some things have changed. There are no massacres of Chinese. In the face of Russian nationalism, the Chinese workers lie low. To Russian paranoia, invisibility remains proof of dastardliness. View 2 comments. It contains intriguing chapters on his travels down the Amur River from its source in Mongolia to its outlet on the Gulf of Tartary, but these glimpses are interspersed with superficial history lessons on the Russian presence in eastern Siberia. Another shortcoming is the single ridiculously-inadequate small scale map of the region. As a travel book it succeeds, but as history it's lacking. I'll give it a weak Three Stars. View 1 comment. Nov 20, Ms. We're going to need a bigger map. That was my thought after I had read the first few chapters. Not that the map provided in the Kindle edition isn't useful, but I like to read these types of travel books with a map sitting on my lap next to the book, a map that I can mark up and make comments on as I read. The Amur River Sahaliyan Ula or Black River, as the Manchus called it; Heilongjiang or Black Dragon River as the Chinese call it is the world's ninth longest river — 2, miles if measured from its head waters before the Shilka and Argun tributaries meet. Unlike the great rivers of Russia, which run from south to north, the Amur runs from west to east. It originates in Mongolia and cuts across both Russia and China. A cursory glance at a map can be misleading. The river is not a natural transportation route across the Siberian Far East. Look at it in relation to Vladivostok, Russia's ice-free port. Not only does it lie to the north but two loops swing very far north. The Amur watershed is a work in progress with winter ice cutting new channels and fast-flowing meltwater spilling into mud flats and virtual ponds far into spring. Moreover, the river marks a historically contested boundary between Russia and China. The title of this book is a bit misleading as well. The author has meticulously researched the history of the region. His travels take him through Onon, north to Chita, west to Irkutsk at the southern tip of Lake Baikal, east to Nerchinsk about miles east of Chita, as the crow fliesAlbazino miles northeast of NerchinskBlagoveshchensk miles southeast of AlbazinoKhabarovsk miles southeast of Blagoveshchenskand finally Nikolaevsk or Nikolayevskna-Amura, miles northeast of Khabarovsk. The journey is much longer if the course of the Amur is actually followed. Each location once played a significant role in Russian history, only to undergo decline. Liberated from this geographical constraint, the primary historical Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China in this book cover the rise and dissolution of the Mongol Empire; the origins and complex legacy of the Cossacks, which coincided with the destruction of native nomadic tribal populations; and centuries of relations with the Chinese which have been at times both antagonistic and symbiotic. Paranoia and pragmatism. In particular, Ziegler points to the Treaty of Nerchinsk of which despite Russia's long, if selective, memory of past grievances, is the foundation of a different attitude toward China than toward Europe and America. I wondered whether this original sin set the tone for the better known atrocities meted out on the Russian Far East in the twentieth century, notably during the Russian civil war and under Stalin. A diverse ecosystem of tundra, taiga, steppe and wetland has been preserved from development by border tensions between China and Russia. Ziegler expresses a lyrical appreciation of this terrain. Even as he writes about this, ominous forebodings of climate change are present. The Torey Lakes where waterfowl nest, have begun to vanish. The waters had shunted whole sandbanks about, and spilled over into lagoons and marshlands, leaving behind placid oxbow lakes where once the main force of the river had run. Those interested in Russian history will appreciate it much more than I did. However, being an avid armchair traveler, I did enjoy Ziegler's insights and descriptions. He also had an interesting Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China with the law. Having agreed to purchase a hand-made pocket knife he discovers the knife in question is one crafted at the Nerchinsk Prison. The money is flung over the prison wall, but the knife is intercepted and Ziegler finds himself under arrest. It's an Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China anecdote that concludes with the author hastily departing town. This was an interesting read, but also a long one. Jul 21, Christine rated it liked it Shelves: netgalley-and-arcsreportingscience-naturetravel. One my favorite books when I was a child was Folktales of the Amur. Nicely illustrated and written. I loved that book. I still love that book. When I re-read it, it always holds its Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River Between Russia and China. The Amur is a river in the Russian east. BLACK DRAGON RIVER | Kirkus Reviews Rich in history but short on personal reflection, this book is more for Asian history buffs than fans of travel literature. The Amur is the ninth largest river in the world. His journey, which he made by horse, Jeep, and train, took him through difficult yet unforgettable landscapes and brought him into contact with a host of intriguing individuals. However, his narrative is far more concerned with setting forth the complex history of both the river and the two nations it separates than with his own impressions of places and people.

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