--- product_id: 131896684 title: "Big Red Train Ride" brand: "eric newby" price: "£27.13" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131896684-big-red-train-ride store_origin: GB region: Great Britain --- # Big Red Train Ride **Brand:** eric newby **Price:** £27.13 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Big Red Train Ride by eric newby - **How much does it cost?** £27.13 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131896684-big-red-train-ride) ## Best For - eric newby enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted eric newby brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Big Red Train Ride ## Images ![Big Red Train Ride - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51m1ebmeiiL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A snapshot of another time *by P***E on Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017* Eric Newby will be familiar to many readers of travel literature as the man who gave us A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush and Slowly Down the Ganges. This book details his journey - taken much later in his life (1977) along the Trans-Siberian Railway. My copies of all these books are in the Picador Books range so not only look nice lined up on the bookshelf but they all are accompanied by photos - usually ones taken by the author himself - interspersed throughout the book.Now it is easy to understand why this book does not come immediately to mind when Eric Newbys name is mentioned. Basically a lot of the book is taken up with decrying the way he and his touring party of his wife Wanda and an unconnected other traveller were effectively led around by the nose as much as possible by the Soviet authorities. The constant paranoia in terms of what they could and couldn't photograph, in terms of their interactions and the various 'attractions' they were taken to obviously grated tremendously on the group. Furthermore this is back in the days before Vladivostok was open to foreign travellers being as it was the home of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.What this means is that outside of the reader coming to share the frustration of the author with the idiotic bureaucracy in the first instance and in the second means that Newby has had to pad out the book with lots of historical anecdotes as to the building of the railway itself. Now it must be said that this is all interesting stuff, the building of this railway being a particularly gruelling affair, but it's not really what the reader of an Eric Newby book wants to read, nor I get the feeling is it what he wanted to have to write to come up with enough material for a book.Despite this the humour of the man does shine through at times though the quips to tend to be more barbed than usual. The book overall is a useful addition to your bookshelf because it is a great way of learning about a snapshot in time. As I write in 2017 doing the Trans-Siberian is vastly easier - more a case of having the cash and getting enough time off from your employer than anything else and a lot of the hardships in terms of food supplies that Newby went through are null and void now. But that's what makes this probably a 'must read' for anyone about to head off on the journey as it will give you a glimpse of what the journey was like during the Cold War. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fellow travelers *by J***R on Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2011* One reviewer suggests that the reader would want to just pick up and go after reading Eric and Wanda Newby's account of their ride through Russia on the Big Red Train.It certainly did not have that affect on this reviewer, even if by reading it I did become a `fellow traveler' for a while. Instead it developed a growing sense of sheer relief that never again would one have to try, and usually fail, to contain those towering rages of sheer frustration and the resulting bad manners that the Russia of this trip and time created in this visitor.Now mostly passed and gone, like one of Newby's Siberian stations with the attendant Station Mistress overseeing departures at the full attention, that Russia was as full of obstructions and stupidities as this book is full of interesting facts, apt and forbidden photographs and sparkling descriptions. Showing far more toleration than we could ever have managed and using his wit as a rapier sharp foil to fight off visits to wire factories, to parry multiple obstructions and carve up inedible meals Eric Newby passed through a Russia that is also now mostly and thankfully past.His book's dedication is a doubled-edged plea from the author for empathy ... to the Peoples of Siberia who have to live there. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fascinating *by M***A on Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2013* I found this fascinating because of all the little annoyances the writer had to deal with being accompanied on his trip with a government official. It was a little cynical but it was done in a humorous way. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131896684-big-red-train-ride](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/131896684-big-red-train-ride) --- *Product available on Desertcart Great Britain* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-04-30*