Down the Volga

The Volga River is, on one hand, a metaphor for concentrated "Russian life," and on the other, a two-week hedonistic voyage that has been attracting the attention of foreigners for several centuries, who wish to explore Russia without enduring the challenge of traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The collection "Down the Volga" includes three reports by foreign specialists who visited the Volga during the Soviet years. Together, they offer not only an interesting perspective on the USSR from the inside of the "showcase of the great experiment," but also capture the current state of the cities descending along the Volga towards the South of Russia, noting their local characteristics that arise at the intersection of the river's vertical and the country's horizontal contexts.