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A critique of the Soviet system transported to a mysterious 'world' - basically a ledge between a towering towel and an abyssal cliff.

I thoroughly enjoyed Andrei's various deployments in different roles in the city and seeing him change from idealistic Marxist-Stalinist and "Experimenteer" to part of the elite and apologist for the new totalitarian regime.

I didn't enjoy, so much, the final third of the book, set out of the city on a great expedition to find the anti-city, where Andrei ends up as an exhausted cynic.

I also didn't enjoy the appalling misogyny. Only three bit-part female characters, who are treated as sex objects.

I've always liked most of Robert Webb's TV work and was attracted to this book because of some similarities in our early lives - raised in Lincolnshire and losing our mums as teenagers.

I enjoyed his candidness and the way he articulates what he's learned through life.

I really enjoyed Bonnett's second foray into generalist writing about 'hurtling and disorienting' geographies.

Indeed I enjoyed this book much more than 'Off the Map'[b:Off the Map: Lost Spaces, Invisible Cities, Forgotten Islands, Feral Places and What They Tell Us About the World|22914749|Off the Map Lost Spaces, Invisible Cities, Forgotten Islands, Feral Places and What They Tell Us About the World|Alastair Bonnett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426644123l/22914749.SY75.jpg|25656388]. He offers many personal examples of this disorienting geography and at the end makes a call for everyone to go out and explore.

I loved this book - a great read for a geographer - the winds, why and where they blow, their impact on communities and the journey itself.

Well, not quite what I was expecting. I thought it would be more in the mode of Maconie. Nevertheless, a fascinating dialogue of Morley making sense of his place in the world - and finding a sense of place. Also interspersed with fascinating historical detail.

But it should really be called the North West!