The American journalist George Kennan (1854–1924) spent many years travelling in and writing about Russia. After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Kennan wanted to go to Siberia to examine the penal system and the punishment of political exiles. In this unflinching account, published in two volumes in 1891, Kennan gives vivid descriptions, accompanied by extensive illustrations of the prisons and labour camps and the harsh lives of the people forced to live there. This journey also led to a personal transformation for Kennan himself - he started out as a supporter of the tsarist government but when he returned to the United States, he had become an advocate of political revolution in Russia. In Volume 1, he inspects the overcrowded holding prison of Tyumen, and speaks to some political exiles. In Volume 2, he travels to the infamous convict mines of the Trans-Baikal region.

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Product details
- Date Published: June 2012
- format: Multiple copy pack
- isbn: 9781108048262
- length: 1024 pages
- dimensions: 216 x 140 x 58 mm
- weight: 1.39kg
- contains: 192 b/w illus. 6 maps
- availability: Temporarily unavailable - available from TBC
Table of Contents
Volume 1: Preface
1. From St Petersburg to Perm
2. Across the Siberian frontier
3. The flowery plains of Tobólsk
4. The Tiumén forwarding prison
5. A Siberian convict barge
6. First impressions of post travel
7. The great Kírghis steppe
8. Our first meeting with political exiles
9. Bridle paths of the Altái
10. Two colonies of political exiles
11. Exile by administrative process
12. The Province and the City of Tomsk
13. The Tomsk forwarding prison
14. The life of political exiles
15. The great Siberian road
16. Deportation by étape. Volume 2:
1. Prisons and exiles in Irkútsk
2. Under police surveillance
3. A visit to the Selengínsk lamasery
4. A ride through the Trans-Bailál
5. The convict mines of Kará
6. The Kará 'Free command'
7. State criminals at Kará
8. The history of the Kará political prison
9. The silver mines of Nérchinsk
10. Adventures in Eastern Siberia
11. The great Siberian road in winter
12. Our last days in Siberia
13. The character of political exiles
14. Evils and projected reforms
Appendixes
Index.
Author
George Kennan