BOOK: “THE AMUR RIVER: BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA” BY COLIN THUBRON AND, THE WIENER HOLOCAUST LIBRARY

Colin Thubron

There are, in a very general sense, two kinds of travel memoir. In the first, writers take you on a journey somewhere they know very well. They share with you their deep understanding of the place—its people, its history and its geography. The authors’ physical journey is for the most part a literary scaffold upon which they hang their knowledge and expertise. In the second kind of travel memoir, the author is a direct proxy for the reader: as clueless and naïve as you—though perhaps a little braver—embarking together on the journey from the same starting point. You see new experiences and sights through the author’s eyes, and slowly develop the ability to interpret and understand these new surroundings.

The Amur River by Colin Thubron is an interesting mix of these two. The book records Thubron’s travels east to west following the course of the Amur River that for centuries marked the border between northern China and Russian Siberia. Thubron has a strong familiarity with Russia and its people. He speaks conversational Russian and appreciates the changing fortunes of the country and its people, having returned to the country often over several decades. However, although he has spent some time in China in the past, for him China is still a foreign place. Thubron’s interactions with China and its people share the same quizzical attitude to the country as those of the Russians he encounters.

Travel books which rely too heavily on one conceit (the “Bombay to Beijing on a bicycle” model) often lack depth, but Thubron’s decision to follow the trail of the Amur is no mere gimmick. The book is more the story of the river and its people, with the author’s travels woven into the story, rather than a justification for the writer’s travels. The fact that the Amur has long served as a boundary between Russia and China provides a unique lens through which to explore their relationship. As Thubron notes early in the book,.............

https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/the-amur-river-between-russia-and-china-by-colin-thubron/

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E-Newsletter for March 2022 As antisemitic rhetoric and actions continue to pose a threat to Jews in Britain and around the world, the Library’s timely new exhibition explores the individuals, organisations and campaigns that have fought back against antisemitism in France, Britain and Germany over the hundred years and more since the time of the Dreyfus Affair in France in the late nineteenth century. The arrest, trial and imprisonment of Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus on false charges of espionage became a sensation in France and across Europe and galvanised both antisemites and their opponents. This exhibition reflects upon the activities, challenges and strategies taken by those fighting back against antisemitism in France, Germany and Britain since this critical moment, and also examines current efforts to challenge antisemitism today. Launching on Wednesday 23 March, the exhibition will display many unique items connected with the struggle against antisemitism in the twentieth century, including a rare copy of a 1930 manual providing advice and information for those challenging antisemitism in Germany, Anti- Anti: Tatsachen zur Judenfrage (Anti- Anti: Facts About the Jewish Question); collections of unique contemporary photographs recording evidence of antisemitic activity in Nazi Germany; documents from the Defence Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Community Security Trust archives, and original material produced by the 43 Group in Britain, who after the war organised to take on fascist groups through direct action and infiltration.