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THOUSAND REVOLUTIONS
"A work of rare emotional intelligence, unafraid of darkness the prose is spare, luminous and quietly devastating.”
Richard Moriarty, The Sun
A story of mud and metamorphosis tracing a singular journey through grief with the steady rotation of the potter’s wheel and the dizzying heights of St Petersburg’s rooftops.
Part love letter to Russia’s cultural capital, part meditation on transformation, this is an unrestrained, humane, optimistic and sometimes humorous account of acceptance - of how making something useful, from mud, can bring unexpected strength, hope and ultimately beauty.
PRESS
'Wheeler’s voice carries the authority of lived experience without ever preaching'
Daily Express
'..insights certain to enrich your experience'
Telegraph
'An absorbing and entertaining look at Russia's dramatic evolution in the 90s'
Real Travel
'If you are in need of some armchair inspiration before you embark on your Russian adventure, look no further.'
The Metro
'A nice balance of humour and observation of character and political commentary'
Booklist
'Informative, accessible and more fun than a banya full of vodka swilling Dmitrys'
Library Journal
About
Thom Wheeler is an author with a particular interest in regions of the ex -Soviet Union, having lived for extended periods in Georgia, Estonia and Russia.
He is the author of One Steppe Beyond, The Way and River Went, and Thousand Revolutions. He has contributed to various publications including the Telegraph, the Guardian and Wanderlust Magazine, and has appeared on BBC Radio and Talk Radio Europe.
He is possibly the first person to have driven a Type 2 VW Campervan across the Russian Federation in the 1990s; a journey recounted in One Steppe Beyond.’
His latest book, 'Thousand Revolutions' charts his journey through clay and grief, from beginner to proficient potter via the rooftops of St Petersburg.
Anchor 2
ONE STEPPE BEYOND
A chance job offer to drive to Vladivostok offers a taste for unknown resulting in a classic caper across the former Soviet Union in a rusty old VW camper. Knowing little of the language or the geography ahead, Thom embarks on probably the longest commute ever, encountering corrupt officials, film star mechanics and over-friendly gangsters. Far off the tourist trail, he bears witness to the collapse of one nation and the birth of a new one during the free-for-all that was Russia in the nineties.
THE WAY A RIVER WENT: FOLLOWING THE VOLGA THROUGH THE HEART OF RUSSIA
Thom Wheeler is not a man to be put off by the prospect of an uncharted, impractical or dangerous journey. Having accidentally introduced his old school friend Vicky to Dmitry, the Russian love of her life, at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Thom decides to travel to their wedding in Astrakhan in the most obvious and straightforward way: by following the Volga river, from its source over 1,000 miles inland, all the way to the Caspian Sea.
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