{"title":"Vitali Vitaliev","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the insightful and often humorous world of Vitali Vitaliev. Explore his observations on British culture, identity, and life as an émigré. 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Stuck for centuries between two different cultures, currencies and (at times) languages, each enclave features fascinating idiosyncrasies of everyday life, making these geographical and historical anomalies perfect destinations for an inquisitive, knowledge-hungry traveller. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn enclave in his own right, Vitaliev, a Ukrainian-born Russian with Australian and British citizenship, travels in search of his own elusive identity and in search of what makes Europeans truly unique. He goes to Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy and Austria, setting out just as the European identity is being imposed from Brussels through the Euro. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn acclaimed investigative journalist, Vitali was able to uncover the roots of the current EU crisis ten years ago, just when the Euro was being introduced. This makes his book extremely topical and surprisingly up-to-date, particularly now that campaigning has started in earnest for Britain's EU referendum, making a convincing, yet witty and didactic, case for Brexit.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49550662369553,"sku":"GOR008015626","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49558493856017,"sku":"GOR010285062","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1908756721.jpg?v=1750769255"},{"product_id":"vitali-s-ireland-book-vitali-vitaliev-9780717140763","title":"Vitali's Ireland","description":"Vitali Vitaliev is a vastly experienced travel writer and a man who understands exile and displacement. His portrait of Ireland is affectionate and slightly perplexed. He does not hesitate to note the litter, the lousy food in many places, the shabbiness and lack of grooming, the ridiculous expense of simple things. He also finds much kindness, stunningly beautiful scenery, evidence of new hope and prosperity everywhere.     In short, Vitali’s Ireland is a job lot of a country, a place very obviously in transition. It knows it is being carried along on a tide of change but is unsure of the destination. 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Welcome to this compendium of interesting, unexpected and downright bizarre geographical anomalies that are guaranteed to delight and inspire. The world is full of little-known facts that have sometimes been a source of diplomatic or military struggle. Many still exist under the radar now to be revealed by this entertaining treasure trove.   Where else can you discover:     Countries that do not really exist A UK hotel room which became Yugoslavian for one day only An island which is Spanish for six months of the year and French for the other six A city which is officially constituted by one single high-rise (14 floor) building The world's first and only railway that belonged to one country and ran across another A hotel room whose bedroom is in France and whose bathroom is in Switzerland Bir Tawil which is one of the very few territories on earth not claimed by any country The only place in the world where you can find so-called counter-enclaves where in a 20-minute walk around the town you can cross an international border at least 50 times at 50 different points   The world is full of wonderful and strange geographical irregularities. 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He looks at what remains of these utopian experiments, questioning their success, their purpose and their viability today.  Throughout this journey, Vitali also reflects on his own childhood, growing up in the USSR during the Cold War. These reflections are often triggered in the most unlikely of places, and the results are sometimes humorous, sometimes touching – and always interesting. 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Ukrainian-born Vitali Vitaliev, an award-winning travel writer and journalist, uses his outsider's perspective to recount his Irish adventures. A renowned cultural observer, he muses on the nation's quirks and stereotypes, whilst his reference to mid-19th century guide books provides an insightful historical comparison. The result is an affectionate if slightly perplexed portrait of a nation in transition.Vitali's time in Ireland coincided with the period of the now dead and buried 'Celtic Tiger' yet the author saw no sign of it. At times, he recounts, I was ready to believe that its very existence was a myth, a creation of the lazy journalists' and inept economists' imagination. Daily life in the Republic of Ireland, he observed, was more reminiscent of that in a third world country, rather than of a modern industrial and financial 'mini-giant' - as it was at that time being described by the world media. During my travels, I developed a chronic dislike for the elusive and intrusive Tiger. It simply did not fit with Ireland's pristine landscape and even less so - with the nation's poetic soul.Ukrainian-born Vitali Vitaliev, an award-winning travel writer and journalist, uses his outsider's perspective to recount his Irish adventures. A renowned cultural observer, he muses on the nation's quirks and stereotypes, whilst his reference to mid-19th century guide books provides an insightful historical comparison. The result is an affectionate if slightly perplexed portrait of a nation in transition.Reviews of Vitali's Ireland: This is a book that will perplex and infuriate some but appear quite humorous to others . . . Eccentric guide to a land of contradictions . . . A rather eclectic mixture of farce, travel guide and personal observation . . . This book should be required reading for those executives who run our tourist authorities.Colin Lenihan, Minister for Integration, in The Irish TimesSlightly eccentric and highly enjoyable . . . Slightly cranky, sometimes bewildered, often meandering back across his life and generally highly entertaining, Vitali's Ireland is very much an outsider's look into our country. If he doesn't know what to make of us, it is maybe because he is viewing us at a junction where we don't know what to make of ourselves.Dermot Bolger, in Sunday BusinessVitali is big hearted, broad minded and smart as a whip . . . A Ukranian-born Russian exile whose worldwide perambulations have produced a string of fine, intelligent works of idiosyncratic reportage, this somewhat unusual visitor offers a valuable gift to us Irish readers: The outside perspective . . . Vitaliev wanders the 32 counties like some kind of gormless, amiable pilgrim, half-Mr Bean, half-Socrates. . . . (His) observations on the folly of the Northern conflict are heartbreaking in their simplicity and world-weary resignation . . . I could fill this paper with quotable extractsHugh Tynan, in the Irish Examiner Weekend","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51053977174289,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51053979894033,"sku":"NIN9781912741045","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1912741040.jpg?v=1751155708"},{"product_id":"little-is-the-light-book-vitali-vitaliev-9781908756633","title":"Little is the Light","description":"\u003cp\u003eFour years after his escape from the Soviet Union in 1990, award-winning journalist and author Vitali Vitaliev went in search of surviving pockets of freedom, autonomy and self-government. He found eleven countries, each with a population of less than half a million, each one of them beautiful and each one described in this book with sparkling humour, wisdom, and an unmatchable sense of irony. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis travels take him to Liechtenstein, San Marino, Mount Athos, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Andorra, Malta, Monaco and Seborga, and for some of his journey he is accompanied by his teenage son, who has his own perspective on the countries they visit. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Little is the light will be seen far in a murky night' reads a proverb the author finds relevant. He talks about the 'little light of freedom that kept us alive and warm in the murky totalitarian night. a light, even if small, means hope, and a little hope is better than no hope at all.' 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A democratic society should surely be able to provide many more means of escape than alcohol - books, free press, foreign travel and the cornucopia of consumer goods.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe reality, however, is very different; drinking in the post-communist Eastern Europe has increased dramatically since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and most of the new democracies of Europe came top of the list of the world's fastest-growing nations following the fall of the iron curtain. Coincidence? Paradox? Curious historic aberration? Or a logical result of years of social turmoil, lies and double standards that have created a vacuum in people's souls, a spiritual emptiness which spirits alone can fill?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eVitali Vitaliev spent eleven months trying to answer these questions travelling around Eastern and Central Europe, a journey through drinks - vodka and beer, palinka and slivovitz, zubrovka and Riesling, Tokaji and cabernet sauvignon. 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