'North to the Orient' is Anne Morrow Lindbergh's memoir of an aviation voyage she and her husband took from New York to China, via an Arctic route that took them through Northern Canada, Barrow AK, Eastern Sibera, the Japanese archipelago, and on to Nanking. In it, Lindbergh describes a bygone era, one of fur-company trading shacks on the banks of Hudson Bay, Eskimo canoe dwellings on Arctic beaches, Soviet planned farming communities, rural Japanese fishermen, and so on.

This should be right up my alley. After all, it combines aviation, a famous name, and history. Unfortunately, 'North to the Orient' fell short of my expectations. Lindbergh writes what is, essentially, a travelogue; and one gets the impression of a traveler with scant interest in or understanding of the people whom she meets. Natives are noble and exotic. White people are benevolent rulers. The Japanese are civilized; the Chinese are barbarians. That kind of thing. Furthermore, Lindbergh simply is not a particularly good writer. Don't get me wrong: she's ... fine. But I found it hard to concentrate on this book which should have fascinated me. Far from feeling like I was there with Lindbergh as she experienced her adventures, I felt like I was there with her while she told me about them.

This isn't the worst book I've read this year - far from it. But I've read better. If given a do-over, I'd pass on 'North to the Orient.'

Recommended for: fans of aviation history, Lindbergh completists.