THE AMUR RIVER: BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA

British travel writer Colin Thubron has a track record of documenting Russia, China, and Central Asia that goes back to 1987. Close to 80, Thubron withstands injury and arrest as he travels by rail, boat, and on horseback along the 1,000-mile stretch of the Amur River dividing Russia and China. Conversant in both Russian and Chinese, Thubron deftly draws out the fears, hopes, and problems of all the people he meets along the frontier, while bringing this singular borderland to life with his signature poetic prose and nuanced big-picture insights.