Running with reindeer - Roger Took

Russian Lapland is rarely heard of today but after World War I it was briefly at the centre of the ideological divide. What the Bolsheviks brought to Russia's north-western corner - forced collectivization, land clearances, slave labour and the suppression of the indigenous Lapps (Sami) - was so ruthless that in the end, even in Russia the region's name could not be spoken without embarrassment. It was renamed Murmansk region, and now is usually called the Kola Peninsula. After the collapse of Communism, Roger Took spent much of the next decade living there, perhaps the first foreigner to do so since 1920. Here, he describes not only the Soviet mining towns and the great Arctic port of Murmansk - home to the nuclear Northern Fleet - but also the lost areas, long closed to Russians and foreigners alike. Travelling across tundra and taiga, through wetlands and forests, and in all seasons, he finds a pristine wilderness full of wildlife and rivers teeming with fish. He follows the lives of Sami families struggling to retain their traditions of herding and hunting; of pioneer villagers descended from medieval Novgorod fur-traders and now coping with the new economy; and of men and women originally forced north to mine Russian Lapland's fabulous mineral wealth but now unemployed and stranded. And as nuclear submarines rot and old industries crumble, he observes how new Russian biznes is creating wealth in its own way.;The result is a series of encounters, some emotionally disturbing but historically rich, some comical but physically dangerous, others absurd but endearing. Moving between the lines of the official histories, coping with arduous Arctic conditions, avoiding the still-vigilant security services, Roger Took presents a vivid account of a unique part of Europe.