Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld

"Marvelous and Illuminating. . . . Forces us to reassess our notions of good and evil." -Irvine Welsh

In a contested, lawless region between Moldova and Ukraine known as Transnistria, a tightly knit group of "honest criminals" live according to strict codes of ritualized respect and fierce loyalty. In a voice utterly compelling and unforgettable, Nicolai Lilin, born and raised within this exotic subculture, tells the story of his moral education outside the bounds of "society" as we know it,...