The late 1990s and early aughts were a time of hope—for democracy and free press. The Soviet Union had failed, leaving behind a number of independent countries where the Scorpions’ 1990 pop ballad “Wind of Change” became a rallying cry. Communist propaganda was being replaced by Western ideals of freedom of speech, or so it was hoped. Two decades later the wind of change is blowing the other way. The Russians are proving their expertise in propaganda in far-off lands, including the United States. Russians are masters of “fake news.” Katya Cengel witnessed its production in the former Soviet Union long before it became a catch phrase. With distrust between Russia and the United States at an all-time high, it is hard to imagine an era when young Westerners flocked eastward. Yet that is what happened. Less than two decades ago, writers and adventure seekers sought out countries once controlled by Russia. Prague was the Paris of their generation. Despite the region’s appeal, neither Kyiv nor Riga was the place you would expect to find a twenty-two-year-old California woman just out of college. Kyiv was too close to Moscow. Riga was too small to matter—and too cold. Cengel ended up living in both. She took a job at the Baltic Times in Riga just seven years after Latvia regained its independence. The idea of a free press was still fluid, and the Soviet legacy of hospitality was so inviting that Cengel followed her Latvia posting with a move to Ukraine. There she made several trips to Chernobyl, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. It was on her second reporting trip that she met her future fiancé. As she fell in love, the country fell apart. The beginning of what would become the Orange Revolution had arrived. Cengel’s adventures are illuminating, tragic, and often hilarious.
Les mer
The book covers the author’s time reporting from the former Soviet Union not long after the fall of communism.
List of Illustrations Preface Part 1. Latvia 1. Journalists Invade Former Soviet Union 2. A Festive Welcome 3. The Elusive Dane, Friendly Canadian, and Other Post-Soviet Workers 4. Happy Girl and the Flasher 5. Big Bad Accidents 6. Exile 7. The Nice Nazi and the Mean Jew 8. A God Other Than Lenin 9. Everything Is Normali 10. Pagans, Communists, and a Hill of Crosses Part 2. California/England 11. Back in the USSR Part 3. Ukraine 12. A Wife Named Katya 13. Downing Vodka Shots at Chernobyl 14. Pirates, Mobsters, and Other Eligible Bachelors 15. The Enemy Outside 16. Heroes and a Woman Named Hope 17. Darkness at Dawn 18. Radioactive Romance 19. Children of Tomorrow 20. Wet Dreams 21. Home Remedies 22. Paddington Bear Gets in a Brawl 23. Atonement 24. Justice 25. London Calling 26. A Western Town in Ukraine 27. An Internal Attack 28. A Chance Engagement 29. Ukraine Accidentally Enters the War on Terror 30. Shallow Graves 31. Homeland 32. Disappearing Acts 33. Taken 34. The Missing 35. Shot in the Butt Part 4. Kentucky 36. A Revolution 37. Repeat Performance Afterword Acknowledgments Bibliography                                                                                                                          
Les mer
"Cengel demonstrates a knack for finding compelling stories, including an on-the-ground report from Chernobyl at a time when engineers were still working to cap off the reactor with a cement sarcophagus. . . . The author has a fine eye for the details of newsroom politics back when newspapers were read and newsrooms were packed with offbeat characters. Sometimes gonzo, sometimes hard-charging—a welcome report from the front lines in a time of torment and hope."—Kirkus Reviews
Les mer
Covers the author’s time reporting from the former Soviet Union not long after the fall of communism

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781640122048
Publisert
2019-11-01
Utgiver
Vendor
Potomac Books Inc
Høyde
228 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
01, P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
288

Forfatter

Biographical note

Katya Cengel is a freelance writer based in San Luis Obispo, California, and lectures in the Journalism Department of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She was a features and news writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal from 2003 to 2011 and has reported from North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Her work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Marie Claire, and Newsweek. She is the author of Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life (Nebraska, 2012).