[.ca] Roaming Russia: An Adventurer's Guide to Off the Beaten ... (ISBN 0595311784)

Great resource!!:
I grew up in Russia but moved to the States when I was young so now I am planning to travel to places that I never had a chance to visit. Thus, I've been reading a lot of books on traveling in Russia and am always on a lookout for books that go beyond talking about basics and touristy places. Jacobson's book was one of the best I've read so far - it is definitely the first one that describes with great care and knowledge places people typically don't think to go. I found sections on less known areas of Russia such as Tomsk, Aginskoe and the travel on Trans-Siberian railroad very interesting with a good thoughtfully-arranged mix of information. Even if you are not planning to go to any of these areas, this book is well-written guide to the regions peoples and customs. Get this book - whether you are a fellow traveller to Russia and someone who is interested in learning about less known parts of this country!

A great traveling companion:
Roaming Russia shows an attention to the little details that other travel guides lost long ago... where to get good vendor food on a one-hour train stop, etc. This book focuses on Siberia's people, not its monuments. Ms. Jacobson clearly knows how to interact with the local people, and the way she wrote about it makes me feel a bit more adventurous and confident about it as well. Half down-to-earth guide book, half travelogue, the book makes me feel as if I'd already been there, and I can't wait to try it out "in the field." Although I'll probably take a more conventional guidebook along for the "hard info," which Ms. Jacobson kept to a minimum (and rightly so, since they change so often and are unreliable even in the most "authoritative" guides). I wish there were more guides like this out there for the lesser-traveled regions of the world...