In 1966 and again in 1969 Canadian writer Farley Mowat spent weeks traveling across Siberia with a translator and his wife. The visits were informed by his extensive study of the Alaskan and Canadian North, their people and wildlife; his goal was a comprehensive understanding of the Arctic North and human impact, particularly its “Small Peoples” (his term) or indigenous people. (I think by Small People he means small in population numbers, although he never explains the term.)

Mowat is captivated by Siberian hospitality and the fact that its former history as a gulag was erased by Russian determination to “settle” the most forbidding territory in the world. Over and over again he is told that the Russian Way is not to exploit the land, but to build communities there to integrate the territory into the nation. His gullibility is charming—he accepts everyone at face value, which probably opened many more doors than skepticism—but it’s more informative to read this book with Ian Frazier’s more contemporary ‘Travels in Siberia.’

One of the most interesting topics the book takes on is the challenge of building on permafrost. Here’s how that worked out: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/14/thawing-permafrost-destroying-arctic-cities-norilsk-russia.