That guidebook you hurriedly snatched from the airport news-stand is bound to have a few major drawbacks even if it has been written by the travelogue equivalent of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The first, second and third of these will be the like-minded tourists standing behind you as you made your purchase. Spouting formula snippets of Russian architectural history, you will meet them again in front of the Winter Palace, on Nevsky Prospect, in the Hermitage, even at that highly recommended over-priced restaurant where you retire to get away from all foreigners.

Just in time to save everyone from such leaden conformity are two new books fresh on the shelves.

This month sees the publication of the latest Russian addition to Jim Haynes' "People to People" series. In the introduction to this slim volume, Haynes warns that it "will contain none of the usual tourist information that can be found in most guidebooks: no museums or galleries, no lists of hotels or restaurants, no suggestions on what to see or what to do, no potted histories."

Instead, what follows is a list of 1,000 Russians, all willing to make you part of their life for the duration of your visit and longer if you let them.

Phone numbers are provided but Haynes recommends that you write in advance. A system of symbols identifies English speakers (most are) and those accommodating souls willing to put up travelers.

The result, as my companion and I discovered on arrival at Sheremetyevo airport, is a little like roaming through someone else's packed address book. As arranged some weeks before, we were immediately whisked off to Nadia's home who for a week guided us through the perils and delights of Moscow's social labyrinth.

Aside from numerous visits from the Bolshoi and to avant garde theater events we would never have unearthed ourselves, there were parties and various informal gatherings.

And if boredom ever threatened, we just picked up Haynes' book, chose a name and started the whole process over again.

In St Petersburg the choice is even richer -- artists, writers, painters, designers, one eccentric disc jockey and a bevy of students.

After an exhilarating journey through just a tiny fragment of the entries our only quibble was that the Russian book, unlike similar people to people guides to Poland, Romania and the Baltic republics, confines itself to larger cities.

However, the bonus with this system of addresses is it can be light on your pocket as most of the names in the book will show you round for free as they either want to make friends with foreigners or brush up on their English. Having said that, gifts and money will not go unappreciated!

A perfect companion to Haynes' book is Robert Greenall's ‘Explorer's Guide to Russia" which aims to take travelers to locations where no one has ventured (except Robert that is) since before the Revolution.

With extensive Russian glossaries and handy tips on ow to locate hotels where the guests are the only living organisms to be found beneath the bedsheets, it is perfectly tailored to the needs of the brave few who venture beyond the well worn, gilded tourist traps.

Greenall gives exhaustive tips on how to buy a train or bus ticket, which counter to go to and who to scream at when the whole process becomes disastrously complicated.

Once the journey is finally under way, the book reverts to a more conventional guide speak approach. But even when I used it to visit such unadventurous destinations as Petrodvorets, Pushkin and Pavlovsk, I found Greenhall's prose more concise, illuminating and engaging than any of the established counterparts.

So, if you are beginning to get the impression that Russia is a lot like the West except more expensive, then perhaps it is time to throw out those old stodgy Fydor's and Baedecker's. With a little more help rom Haynes and Greenall, you will be introduced to an entirely different country where the local population is boisterously friendly and where money will be far better spent on presents for new friends.

And as Haynes, an archetypal "old hippy", claims in a manifesto at the beginning of the book, you might even do a little for peace and harmony on this earth.

"In recent years," he says, "we have heard a great deal about living in a global village. People to People is a step towards its realization. Go forth and meet your neighbors. They're out there and they're nice."

WHERE TO BUY: "Explorer's Guide to Russia." Canon Gate Press, address as above or call Robert Greenall on Moscow (095) 154-0440.
PRICE: $US 17.95.