Asian Odyssey

By: Dmitri Alioshin

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Synopsis: Asian Odyssey, first published in 1940, is the autobiographical account of Dmitri Alioshin’s experiences in Siberia and Mongolia in the chaotic, often extremely violent times following the Russian Revolution. Alioshin, an officer in the Imperial Army, served in the army of the White Russians under General Kolchak and Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, then in the communist Red Army, and later joined the ill-fated American Expeditionary force as an interpreter under General Graves. Alioshin’s account makes for fascinating reading as he describes the bitter fighting between communist and Imperial forces, the shifting loyalties of the soldiers, the plundering of captured villages, the harsh landscape including a trek across the Gobi Desert, and the ways of life of the Mongols, Cossacks, and other groups. The book ends with Alioshin returning to his father’s home in Harbin, China, but little is known about Alioshin’s subsequent life. Included are 10 pages of illustrations.