THE BURNING EDGE: TRAVELS THROUGH IRRADIATED BELARUS

"Bald and Bankrupt" or "Arthur Chichester" is Benjamin Rich, a British Youtube vlogger who's gone viral with 3M subscribers following his handheld video of himself roaming the remote republics and backwaters of the former Soviet Union and satellite states.With a bottle of guest vodka and friendly words in his decent Russian, he makes friends in the "the worst slum in all of Europe" (Lunik IX) or tries to find speakers of nearly-extinct Uralic languages sf When he's not tempting Fate, he's exploring the remains of Soviet architecture (luxuriuos apparatchik palaces gone to ruins, bus stations in Space Age Sixties turquoise and aluminum, still in use, and lots of surprisingly good mosaics of "the heroic people" as well as every little town's horribly sad World War II monument, with its long list of names, all same family in endless memorial for towns depopulated and empty of all but a few poverty-bound grandparents.This book is very similar to the vlogs, so if you've become addicted to every single video upload, this is a written excerpt of his trips through the radioactive areas of poisoned Belarus, where the winds took the radioactive effluent from the Chernobyl accident. This is, in my opinion, his best vlog work of all. He has a closeness to Belarus having been married to one Belarussian woman and dating (possibly married) to another. He loves the people of this tiny country wedged between two behemoth enemies, Germany and Russia and his love shows in the way he mourns the permanent damage done to a fertile land with good people.So it's worth reading this to get a summary of the videos and perhaps to get a full appreciation for what Rich (aka Mr. Bald aka Chichester) has done and that is to document the life and recent history of Belarus and show it love and mourn its losses.

Just like his Youtube Video's :-)

This account was so well written that I felt as if I was along on the journey. A whole new part of the world opened up to me. What courage it must have taken to travel alonethrough the far outposts of the post-soviet countryside, relying on the hospitality of complete strangers who invariably turned out to be warm and decent people despite the terrible past and the present poverty they endured.

It was as though I was with the author on every step of the way. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed the author's YouTube videos.

Love this book. It was so easy to picture the entire journey in my mind after seeing most of his videos in the region. Kept me glued to it the whole time and made me wish I could visit.

I was sincerely surprised by the deep understanding of our Belarusian mindset demonstrated by Arthur, being an Englishman.I especially liked and fully agree with the author's understanding of:- people's attitude towards Lukashenko. With all controversy like buying $1M cards when many people struggle to make $100 a month and most likely rigged elections, people still have a certain respect to him.- memory about the Soviet times. It wasn't all negative and many people, especially the elderly have certain nostalgia for the times when they lived simple but happy lives, having their future certain and not having to worry about many things. Although no one in their right mind would like to get back to the USSR now, when we all know that there's so much more in the world to see and do.- cult of the WW2 and fallen heroes. In part, it's planted by the government as a convinient ideology (we may be poor, but at least there's no war going on). But on the other hand, it's quite understandable for a nation that suffered so much and lost 25% of its population during the war.I don't quite agree on some other things, such as:- Arthur Chichester's representation of the Belarusian opposition, all of them being sponsored by the West and living abroad, not knowing their own country. I personally know many people and I'm absolutely confident that many of them come from the people, have nothing to do with the West and truthfully willing to make their country better. They just don't know how exactly to do it...- from the book one might get an impression that all Belarusian women are only dreaming of getting laid by a foreigner to have a chance to leave the country. The reality is quite the opposite. Most of Belarusian women are highly moral, proud and quite reserved, sometimes a bit too much. My guess is that Arthur is a little cunning and exaggerating his own attractiveness.Still, I'm very happy that such a book exists and will definitely recommend it to the American and British people I work with, as it will undoubtedly help them understand our mindset and culture.

I've never watched the author's videos or even heard of his youtube channel until reading about it on page 1. I was simply looking for a book about Belarus written in English and this fit the bill. Wow, I was really surprised to enjoy his stories so much. His open, trusting attitude is admirable. I'm happy to see some confirmation here in the reviews that his treatment of the Belarusian people seems very fair. In between anecdotes he drops history of Belarus and in particular Germany's brutal march through there in WWII. There was lots I didn't know about that he commented on, and I really appreciate it. But back to the story, his journey through the swamp and deserted villages near the end was particularly thrilling. Speaking of the end, I couldn't believe it ended where it did. How the heck did he get back home from that last village after an almost impossible journey there? But I'm done crying about that. This was a highly entertaining and educational book.

Es ist ein wirklich leichtes und angenehmes Buch zu lesen. Wer hier allerdings ein literarisches Meisterwerk erwartet, ist fehl am Platz. Das Buch liest sich schnell, lässt einen schmunzeln und ab und zu sogar was dazu lernen. Ideal für eine Zugfahrt.

100/100

I bought this book after watching Bald's YouTube channel. This book depicts the unexplored parts of Belarus, particularly the contaminated zone. One gets a different perspective of how life is in these regions after the radiation disaster. It is written in a simple English yet a non-native English speaker will learn many new words. It's a good book to read.

A first time author like bald and bankrupt produced a fantastic book full of unique experiences and anecdotes for his time in Belarus, a fantastic read especially for a fan of the YouTube channel

The book is divided into a few dozen short stories of Ben's/Arthur's travels through the South-Eastern corner of Belarus. This area has been affected most by the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, most readers are probably familiar with already. What isn't so obvious is that Belarus was affected hugely by the events of 1986. To this day vast swaths of land remain contaminated. In the West we are acquainted with the rather technical aspect of the accident in reactor 4, associating it usually with Ukraine (Prip'yat) and the Soviet leadership in Moscow and their following failures. While many continue to obsess about the ghost city of Prip'yat, Ben/Arthur does a fantastic job in decoupling the rather technical side of the events from the very real human impact 1986 left in Belarus - which is undoubtedly so often overlooked. His stories convey an original and logical realness to the reader. For those who likes his film work on YouTube will find this to be an excellent add-on. You'll recognize some of the places but the stories featured in the book have not been on screen as far as I can tell.Lastly, Ben/Arthur successfully guides the reader through his experiences, often using moments of self-reflection and honesty. His observation about the tradition and culture of the Belarusian people in contrast to his English identity are remarkable. How Ben/Arthur sees himself fit in into the Belarusian society he reveals at the end.The "red thread" can be found through quite easily, which makes it an enticing read every time you'll pick up this book. Each of the stories' conclusion(s) will travel with you throughout the book and finally explains why the region truly attracted Ben in the first place and why he calls it the "Burning Edge".