Big honour that 'Russia Starts Here' has been longlisted for Scotland's National Book Awards 2025

Very honoured to be shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize for 'Russia Starts Here'! Along with other amazing authors @lucyaash.bsky.social, @radchenko.bsky.social, @benjaminnathans.bsky.social, Donald Rayfield and even Alexei Navalny: www.pushkinhouse.org/projects/boo...

Anti-drone netting draped over apartment blocks in the Russian town of Shebekino on the Ukrainian border: t.me/lookatme1313...

My book 'Russia Starts Here' is also now available in Dutch - published by Nieuw Amsterdam! Available here: nieuwamsterdam.nl/producten/ru.... With thanks to @derksauer.bsky.social for a generous endorsement quote:

Available in all good UK bookshops and already some sightings in the wild!

Publication day for 'Russia Starts Here'! Thanks to my agent, Emma Finn, and the amazing team at @bloomscontinuum.bsky.social for making it happen

"Full of empathy and adventure, this book brings us to a vast, marshy land in the very center of the European continent. This is one of the least known parts of the earth, the heart of our new darkness" - Alexander Etkind

"An exquisitely observed and subtle portrait of a key region of Russia which throws light on the character of the country as a whole... brimming with humanity and insight" - Tom Parfitt

"A work of exceptional reportage. Every encounter is woven with humanity, lyricism and insight into ordinary lives. This kind of nuance is rare... A different level of insight to anything I've read for a long time about Russia" - Sophy Roberts

"A beautifully observed, melancholy and humanising travelogue that recalls the work of Anna Funder, transported to a land of crumbling edifices where almost-forgotten history weighs heavily on the living" - Alex Christofi (@christofi.bsky.social)

"By fixing his focus onto one region of Russia Amos reflects the vast caste of Russia's relentless nightmares" - Peter Pomerantsev

"Howard Amos has looked hard at the Russia that everyone else ignores. The stories he tells are elegiac, strange, and just a bit heart-breaking" - Oliver Bullough (@oliverbullough.bsky.social)

"Truly kaleidoscopic and unique in its reach, this is a superbly written and unusual book that is sometimes difficult to read but is ultimately absolutely unforgettable" - Caroline Eden (@edentravels.bsky.social)

Just one week to go until my book, ‘Russia Starts Here’ is published by @bloomscontinuum.bsky.social! If you need a reason to get a copy, I'm going to post the thoughts of some of the wonderful people who have already read it:

After more than five years work, my book 'Russia Starts Here - Real Lives in the Ruins of Empire' will be published by @bloomscontinuum.bsky.social on 27th February