In 1995, his fifth year in Russia as a foreign correspondent, celebrated Australian journalist Robert Haupt made a decision to take a boat trip down the Volga River to Astrakhan by the Caspian Sea. The journey down the Volga forms the core of this luminous book.
Seemlessly interwoven strands of art, literature, politics, history, economics and geography capture a country and a people for which the author had an immense passion. From the broad canvas of the Russian terrain and centuries of tumultuous history to the sharply drawn characters he meets along the way, Last Boat to Astrakhan is both a compelling journey and a testament to Haupt's skill, clarity of vision and love of life.
