I began to realize that radio could do more even than preserve my sanity and defeat my homesickness; it could provide me with a wealth of information on, and a hearty appreciation for, a place as different from my home town as any in the country. 

1 radio could do more （主句）even than （it could) preserve my sanity and defeat my homesickness; even强调比较分句，所以至于它所强调的成分之前。

2 it could provide me with a wealth of information on, and a hearty appreciation for, a place as different from my home town as any in the country. 

= it could provide me with a wealth of information on a place as different from my home town as any in the country, and a hearty appreciation for a place as different from my home town as any in the country. 

类似结构：I am as tall as, if not taller than, Tom.

= I am as tall as Tom, if not taller than him.

3 a place as different from my home town as any in the country

= a place that is as different from my home as any (place) in the country is.

这类as...as 表示同级比较，并不是你理解的“极其、非常”。

译文：我开始意识到，收音机远不止能让我保持理智，让我不想家。它还给我提供了丰富的资讯，让我了解并欣赏与我家乡不同的某个地方。