Events
Hatchards
Date
20 July 2026 6:30 pm
Details
In the summer of 2014, Crimea had been seized and death and destruction were running wild in eastern Ukraine. Despite the splendour of life as an expat lawyer in Moscow and a love of Russia dating back to his student days, Michael decided it was to go, but the slow way: by horse.
As we will hear this evening, Michael rode west through a bucolic Russian landscape of wildflower meadows to monasteries and historic battle sites, deep into a vast wilderness, dotted with forgotten aristocratic estates meeting fascinating characters along the way. In Belarus, fire, dancing and song envelop him at the midsummer festival of Kupala. Riding on, he explores the vanished lives of the Poles and the Jews and, despite dark warnings about Ukraine, Michael finds a welcoming people, fiercely proud to defend their beautiful country from Russia.
It's a journey filled with the antics of horses, guides and stable girls, the kindness of strangers and friends and great quantities of delicious food and fiery moonshine. Do come along if you can for what promises to be a fascinating evening!
