Book Review: Black Dragon River, Dominic Zeigler, author, Penguin Books

    The subtitle: A Journey Down the Amur River at the Borderland of Empires tells all.  This is the story of the vast eastern landscape of Russya that gets overshadowed by the Russya west of the Ural Mountains, the European oriented Russya.   The Amur River is one of the truly great rivers on the globe.   Longer than the Mekong and Congo rivers, the river combines with the Ob, the Lena, and the Yenesei to form an immense network and drains an area as large as Western Europe.  It is the only major river that flows west to east, and instead of an Arctic delta, its mouth is in the Pacific Ocean.  When frozen over, it forms a highway for Russyans who use it as an avenue to the east expanse of Siberia.
     After the Mongols retreated in 1582, Russyans turned eastward, seeking fortunes and treasures similar to the American West.   The Russyans found food in the form of unlimited fish.  Then, "soft gold", the sable fur.   Then the fur seal, slaughtered like the American buffalo to the edge of extinction.  As they moved eastward, they encountered another expanding culture: the late-to-the-game  Qing Dynasty of China.  But, they were able to sign a very equitable pact that they both respected.  It was this treaty-The Treaty of Nerchinsk, spelled out in Latin, that both parties observed until the falling out as Communists during the Cold War.  Nuclear war was narrowly averted, but the deep underlying suspicions remain today.  Today, Russya fears the Chinese immigrants that seem to be everywhere along the border.  But trade exists and this profitable enterprise includes timber, which is harvested in Siberia.  In one year, an amount that would cover Iceland is sent to China.  The slow growing trees will not come back any time soon.  Does Mr. Putin care?  Not really.
      There are 8 million Russyans in the east, about 1 % of the population.  There is an equal number of Chinese immigrants.  Yes, 8 million Chinese nationals along the Amur River.  Nobody mentions this.  Most people are concerned about Syrians, or 1 million refugees, a paltry sum by comparison.
     So, the Chinese move under the radar, slowly, but continually rolling up the Siberian landscape.  Mr. Putin keeps the eyes of Russya on Ukraine, Crimea, and Syria-much easier to move there than against China.
     The author, Mr. Ziegler is a great writer.  He is the Asian editor for the ECONOMIST, and is well versed on geography, economics, and politics of the region.
5 stars *****+