Bjarmalands - From the Sagas to the Post-Soviet in Russia, Ukraine and Surroundings: A Travelogue (2021)

The Icelandic Sagas relate of a land far to the east named Bjarmaland, where the sun rises, the end of the Viking World. When writer Valur Gunnarsson poured over maps in his youth, this was subsumed in the vast Soviet Union. But then Reagan met Gorbachev in Reykjavik and soon the USSR was no more. The area was once more open to exploration. In the late 90s Valur finally crossed the landmine-lined border to the mysterious east, during the robber-baron Yeltsin era when everything was permissible and up for grabs. This was to be the first trip of many to the former Soviet Union.