Through Siberia by Accident is Dervla Murphy’s book about a journey that didn’t happen - and what happened instead. Suffering from multiple minor injuries, Murphy found herself stranded thousands of miles from her original destination, Ussuriland in the Russian Far East. Consequently, she spent three months amidst the vastness of Eastern Siberia, travelling by boat and paddle-steamer. Her wanderings provided various surprises and in most places she was greeted with extraordinary hospitality. In some places, foreign travellers were so rare that the injured Irish writer was the first Western European that locals had met. These encounters lead to some fascinating conversations about a range of subjects from post-Soviet social problems to the unique inhabitants of Lake Baikal’s depths.