Synopses & Reviews
The fascinating history of an unknown people
A vivid mixture of history and reporting, The Shamans Coat tells the story of some of the worlds least-known peoplesthe indigenous tribes of Siberia. Russias equivalent to the Native Americans or Australian Aborigines, they divide into two dozen different and ancient nationalitiesamong them Buryat, Tuvans, Sakha, and Chukchi. Though they number more than one million and have begun to demand land rights and political autonomy since the fall of communism, most Westerners are not even aware that they exist.
Journalist and historian Anna Reid traveled the length and breadth of Siberiaone-twelfth of the worlds land surface, larger than the United States and Western Europe combinedto tell the story of its people. Drawing on sources ranging from folktales to KGB reports, and on interviews with shamans and Buddhist monks, reindeer herders and whale hunters, camp survivors and Party apparatchiks, The Shamans Coat travels through four hundred years of history, from the Cossacks campaigns against the last of the Tatar khans to native rights activists against oil development. The result is a moving group portrait of extraordinary and threatened peoples, and a unique and intrepid travel chronicle. Anna Reid holds a master's degree in Russian history and reform economics from London University's School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She was the Kiev correspondent for the Economist and the Daily Telegraph from 1993 to 1995. Her first book, Borderland: A Journey Through the History of the Ukraine, was published to wide acclaim in 1997. Ms. Reid lives in London. A vivid mixture of history and reporting, The Shaman's Coat tells the story of some of the world's least-known peoples: the indigenous tribes of Siberia. Journalist and historian Anna Reid traveled the length and breadth of Siberia to tell the story of its two dozen distinct and ancient nationalities. Drawing on sources ranging from folktales to KGB reports, and on interviews with shamans, reindeer herders, and Party apparatchiks, The Shaman's Coat travels through four hundred years of history and is a moving group portrait of extraordinary and threatened peoples, as well as a unique and intrepid travel chronicle. "[Reid] sets out on her travels determined to bring the land of her reckoning alive. In this she is aided by her acute curiosity, fine descriptive gifts and delight in detail. The result is almost always to give us, in her own wry, an indelible sense of place."Benson Bobrick, The New York Times Book Review "Rueful, witty and poetic . . . A spare, elegantly focused combination of fieldwork and research."The Washington Post Book World
"[Reid] sets out on her travels determined to bring the land of her reckoning alive. In this she is aided by her acute curiosity, fine descriptive gifts and delight in detail. The result is almost always to give us, in her own wry, an indelible sense of place."Benson Bobrick, The New York Times Book Review
"Graced with numerous examples of vivid . . . descriptive, as well as fascinating historical anecdote . . . Open to almost any page and find fascinating detail and bright writing about a place most of us know nothing about."The Seattle Times
"Succinct as well as rich . . . graceful and unpretentious."The Philadelphia Inquirer
Synopsis
The fascinating history of an unknown people
A vivid mixture of history and reporting, The Shamans Coat tells the story of some of the worlds least-known peoples—the indigenous tribes of Siberia. Russias equivalent to the Native Americans or Australian Aborigines, they divide into two dozen different and ancient nationalities—among them Buryat, Tuvans, Sakha, and Chukchi. Though they number more than one million and have begun to demand land rights and political autonomy since the fall of communism, most Westerners are not even aware that they exist.
Journalist and historian Anna Reid traveled the length and breadth of Siberia—one-twelfth of the worlds land surface, larger than the United States and Western Europe combined—to tell the story of its people. Drawing on sources ranging from folktales to KGB reports, and on interviews with shamans and Buddhist monks, reindeer herders and whale hunters, camp survivors and Party apparatchiks, The Shamans Coat travels through four hundred years of history, from the Cossacks campaigns against the last of the Tatar khans to native rights activists against oil development. The result is a moving group portrait of extraordinary and threatened peoples, and a unique and intrepid travel chronicle.
About the Author
Anna Reid holds a masters degree in Russian history and reform economics from London Universitys School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She was the Kiev correspondent for the
Economist and the
Daily Telegraph from 1993 to 1995. Her first book,
Borderland: A Journey through the History of the Ukraine, was published to wide acclaim in 1997. Ms. Reid lives in London.