The Vodka-Cola Cowboy: Trucking Russia 1990 - 1995

A rollicking piece of reporting from the road, The Vodka-Cola Cowboy describes trucking in what is possibly the harshest environment in the world: Russia. Between 1990 and 1995 British owner driver Mick Twemlow worked to transport goods to, from, and within Russia and the wider Soviet Union. Living in Moscow with his future wife, Elena and their daughter, Margarita, who was born there, in 1992, Mick learned the language and fully immersed himself in Russian society, giving him an insider's view of this time of massive upheaval in the Soviet Union. The book vividly illustrates the conditions that British truck drivers encountered, including atrocious winter weather in a wild and unforgiving landscape, police harassment, and the dangers that came with the dissolution of the USSR. Mick was the only British truck driver in Moscow throughout the whole of the anti-Gorbachev coup of 1991, so the book offers a unique perspective of that historical event. His stories range from the humorous to the serious to the potentially life threatening. This book will be of interest to truck drivers and those with an interest in road transport and the haulage industry in general. Russia is still an unknown quantity, all around the globe, with regards to people's understanding of it and its people, and The Vodka-Cola Cowboy will be of interest to anyone who has a fascination with the country, particularly during this tumultuous time in the region's socio-political history.