FROM MOSCOW TO SAMARKAND By Y. Z.
Of all the possible types of travel books, only two seem to be in fashion at the moment—those, namely, which amuse and those which instruct, though naturally many authors aim at combining these, two functions. This seems to have been the case with the anonymous writer of From Moscow to Samar- kand (The Hogarth Press, Os.), who hides so successfully behind the baffling initials Y. Z. that nothing is visible round the corners except his (or her) nationality. We are told in a publisher's note that the author is Russian, a fact which it would have been hard to guess, since the style reveals the hand neither of a foreigner nor of a translator. The book contains a description of a journey through some of the least known districts of the Soviet territory in Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan and Kirghizia. It is made up of straightforward accounts of what the author saw on his travels through the towns and wilder country districts, interspersed with stories told him by some of the people whom he met. These stories mainly concern the effects of the Revolution on people living in Central Asia, and they therefore are valuable in providing material for those who are interested in the present and recent
states of Russia. The other parts of the book also contain much information of the same kind in more scattered form, all presented simply and almost without comment. The reticence which the author displays about thrusting his opinion on the reader makes the book more valuable as a col- lection of data but duller as a travel book. The author rarely records an impression, never takes the reader into his con- fidence, is always respectably serious on serious subjects, well-balanced and terribly objective, so that in general the reader sees facts but ho picture, aitd is more affected by the parts which aim at instructing than by those which aim at amusing.
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