See book preview

Free Fall: a Kazakhstan Journal

Author: Brian Crumblehulme

Paperback

9781637285169

$15.99

PDF

9781637285176

$3.99

EPUB

9781637285176

$3.99

Kindle

9781637285176

$3.99

Item Summary

No. of item(s):
Total amount:

Go to Cart

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the author and partner were invited to spend a year in Kazakhstan during a time when that country was changing from a central controlled economy to a free market enterprise. Brian and Mary initially worked with entrepreneurs and local politicians, the projects expanded to include arts groups, university teaching, and assisting Kazakh people returning from an 80 year diaspora in Mongolia and China. For this the author travelled almost the length and breadth of a country the size of Australia. In addition to the working environment, they were also invited into homes and many social events. Through two summers and one incredibly cold winter, the author was immersed in an unparalleled cultural change, embraced by many and bewildering to others unable to make the transition.

These are the stories of real people who lived through the heavy hand of the KGB to emerge into the free fall of western culture.

The author received a collage education in the sciences before a two year stint in medical technology and several years in the chemical industry. In 1978 he moved with his wife and young daughter to a small island off the west coast of Canada; they quickly embraced the rural life and became engaged in the community, where over the years, they operated a commercial herb farm and a country guest lodge. This is his second book after “Majestic America: a pictorial cookbook”. As a working couple they later volunteered for rural development work in Nepal, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia. Brian has published in a variety of journals about rural life, culture and travel. His fields of interests include, food, gardening, aesthetics, cultural history, theatre and dance. Now retired, he continues to live with his wife on a small rural acreage.