Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Tayler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009

A gripping journey through some of the planet’s most remote and challenging terrain and its peoples, in search of why democracy has yet to thrive in lands it seemed so recently ready to overtake Across the largest landmass on earth, in lands once conquered by Genghis Khan and exploited by ruthless Communist regimes, autocratic and dictatorial states are again arising, growing wealthy on petrodollars and low-cost manufacturing.
More and more, they are challenging theWest.
Media reports focus on developments in Moscow and Beijing, but the peoples inhabiting the vast expanses in between remain mostly unseen and unheard, their daily lives and aspirations scarcely better known to us now than they were in ColdWar days.Tayler finds, among many others, a dissident Cossack advocating mass beheadings, a Muslim in Kashgar calling on the United States to bomb Beijing, and Chinese youths in Urumqi desiring nothing more than sex, booze, and rock ’n’ roll—all while confronting over and over again the contradiction of people who value liberty and the free market but idealize tyrants who oppose both.
From the steppes of southern Russia to the conflict-ridden Caucasus Mountains to the deserts of central Asia and northern China,Tayler shows that our maps have gone blank at the worst possible time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tayler (Siberian Dawn) takes readers on an extraordinary adventure across the largest landmass on earth, from Russia through the Caucasus into South Ossetia and Georgia, on to Central Asia and Kazakhstan, and across Xinjiang and Mongolia. Equal parts history, politics, economic theory and anthropology, he brings into sharp focus the ordinary lives behind the news headlines. Of particular interest are two recurring discoveries he makes—replacing totalitarian dictators with democratically elected (often U.S.-backed) leaders opens the door to enormous corruption, and that where there is electricity, there is always a disco. Tayler marshals hundreds of years of history, from the conquests of Genghis Khan through the dislocation caused by WWI and WWII to the Chinese Communist revolution and the glossy, urban China of today. While the author's approach to exploration is haphazard at times, his impressive ability to build instant rapport and cull local knowledge in a remarkably short span of time gives his journey steady momentum. Tayler conveys his encounters in prose that is as richly textured as the stories he gathers in some of the remotest places imaginable. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

Tayler, a talented journalist with the soul of an intrepid nineteenth-century explorer, is particularly fascinated by the world’s most remote borderlands (the Sahel in Angry Wind, 2005; Siberia in River of No Reprieve, 2006; among others). Here, the author covers the lands conquered by Genghis Khan in a 7,200-mile overland journey, from his home in Moscow south through the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea, then east across the deserts of Kazakhstan and Inner Mongolia, all the way to Beijing. It’s a harrowing journey, characterized by bad roads, bribe-seeking officials, and harsh climes (not to mention the liver-destroying local hospitality), but the author is fortified with historical knowledge of the region and a desire to witness firsthand the new geopolitical frontiers of Central Asia. And so, through encounters with taxi drivers, Cossack patriots, club-going teenagers, and a few affectionately described female guides, Tayler documents the lingering effects of the Soviet era, the chaotic emergence of modern capitalism, and the persistent stirrings of tribalism. Part sociopolitical inquiry, part adventure story, this selection brings an often-overlooked region to life. --Brendan Driscoll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1St Edition edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618799915
• ISBN-13: 978-0618799916
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hitory and Geography All In One, February 22, 2009

By 

Gunta Krasts Voutyras (Clemons, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing (Hardcover)

If one has been harboring a desire to travel through Mother Russia of long ago, as well as, experience the current Russia, after the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, but has been afraid to do so becuase of language barriers, this is the guide. Armed with this book, a good map, a dictionary of all the languages and dalects of Russia, all is possible.

This is the largest land mass on our planet. All climates, all terrains, all levels of education, all levels of ignorance to what we know as civilization having not touched some of these people since the days of Genghis Khan.

Jeffrey Tayler starts his journey by train in Moscow. He covers all nations and peoples from that point to Beijing, China. The boundaries, histories and peoples of Chechna, the Tatars, the Yakuts, the Ingus. The lands of history of the Kazaks are discussed at great length. The Greeks brought Christianity to the people of Ossetia and Georgians. Facts such as: the Ural River being the waterway that to according to Russian tradition divides Europe from Asia. Descriptions of Suleyman Mountain and Kyrgyzstan's cpital Osh.

Mention of many writers on the classic list of Russian's elite, such as Turgenev, Pushkin, Lermontov and most interesting the ballet dancer Boris Gudonov having been born a Tatar. Aside from these little tidbits of history and geography " Murderers in MMausoleums " holds a wealth of informtion useful to the amateur or the serious scholar of Russia, students of its former satellites and current crop of countries which have seceaded from Soviet Union.

The book also has a chapter on Karaganda, the architectually ugly site built by the Soviets, made even more ugly in terms of human decadence of the soul. A place that was used as a Gulag during the Soviet Regime. Many interesting interviews and conversations hetween Jeffrey Talyer and young people he meets in his travels and throughout it all the marvelous feeling that one is not reading a dry travelog but a novel with sensual characters and history celebrating the spirit and traditions of a great people. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Russian and history from the time of Ghenkhis Khan to the present.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, February 27, 2009

By 

doclibrarian (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing (Hardcover)

The book was written with sincerity and love for detail that characterizes Mr Tayler's previous travelogue titled River Of No Reprieve. What it lacks in comparison is the sense of discovery. Instead, there is a sense of guilt and shame for America. The author sits down with all kinds of deluded individuals to hear how America deserved 9-11. Perhaps his contempt for president Bush justified eating their food and drinking to their toasts. Most of what we learn from his round-table experience is commonplace today and of little investigative value.

I don't pretend to be an expert, but history references must be accurate to support the presentation. On page 8 or 9 Tsar Ivan III "carts away Moscow's veche bell", the last symbol of democracy. Moscow never had one. The veche (people's assembly) existed in the Republic of Novgorod until it was defeated by Muscovy, and its bell was duly confiscated.

On a visit to Russia, hanging out with the locals may be a lot of fun. You can sample traditional hospitality, get plenty of attention, and stay above the fray. The author is a long-time expatriate based in Moscow. I think that may have affected his judgement and fogged up his crystal ball. Or this could be a case of overreachiitis - a common affliction among professional journalists with no academic creds.

I could not finish this book. Perhaps you will, just be forwarned.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bar Hopping Through Central Asia, February 18, 2009

By 

Marcel L. Salive (Potomac, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing (Hardcover)

Disappointed--that's how I felt after finishing Tayler's saga of his trip from Moscow to Beijing. His premise is very interesting, to find out the attitudes of peoples in the vast areas of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and he visits cities off the usual Silk Road, such as Makhachkala, Atyrau, and Astana. However, Tayler seems to converse mainly with disgruntled minorities, Cossacks, Kabardin, Uygurs, and mainly in bars. By the end I was fed up with reading repetitively about how much he drank and wondered why he didn't spend more time talking to the occasional food shopper, small businessman or local politician. His abrupt "summary/conclulsion" on the last two pages was the last straw. "Murderers in Mausoleiums"--a great title for a mediocre book.