- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Hill & Wang (Sep 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0809015935
- ISBN-13: 978-0809015931
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.3 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,800,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"A brilliant biography of place."-"Guardian"
"Must certainly be among the year's most memorable non-fiction books."-"Financial Times" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
"Must certainly be among the year's most memorable non-fiction books."-"Financial Times" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Guardian
`...beautifully written book which is part history and part travelogue'
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unbalanced but often fascinating,
By David (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Sea: The Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism (Paperback)
First, the bad stuff - this book should really be called "What the Poles and Russians got up to north of the Black Sea" since this is what it's mainly about. There is very little about Turkey or the Turks, nothing about Romania or Bulgaria. In spite of this, I enjoyed the book a lot. It is full of fascinating facts and stories. The narrative is built around the break up of the Soviet Union but ranges across a vast area of history to give some interesting sidelights on the politics of nationalism. My favourite bits were his discussions of the Skythians, Sarmatians & "Amazons" (see also Howard Reid's "Arthur the dragon king" for related material). Also includes a very interesting & provocative discussion of the romantic myths surrounding the cossacks.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
excellent synoposis of misunderstood and unknown region,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Sea: The Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism (Paperback)
Neal Ascherson does a scholarly study of an unknown and highly mysterious geographical crossroads of several major civilizations. His scope of study ranges from the 1000 BCE to the present. Ascherson examines early Greek settlements in the world's breadbasket, and includes such diverse settlements as the Scythians, Romans, the Karaiim, the Russian and Ottaman Empires and concludes with present day Ukraine. It includes archaeological finds include treasures that predate Homer's Troy. The exhibit "Treasures of the Ukraine" currently in Montreal, features many of the archaeological finds discussed by Ascherson. Surely, this exhibit must rank favorably with other major excavations of antiquity. Historical and political figures intertwine with mythology, history and geography to create a much needed understanding of a neglected land and rich diverse cultures and the diverse peoples who visited and inhabited these lands.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A superb combination of history and travel writing.,
By graeme.dibble@bbc.co.uk (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Sea: The Birthplace of Civilisation and Barbarism (Paperback)
Neal Ascherson is sadly a rarity these days - a journalist who can move easily from the confines of newspaper writing to the broader sweep of historiography and travel writing. Yet his skill as a journalist is obviously of great help to him as he pares back what is obviously a tremendous amount of research to give us this lucid and almost racy account of the history of the Black Sea - an era which stretches from the time of the ancient Greeks, right up to present-day fish quotas imposed on the Turks. Ascherson is no cold observer of the human fate, but becomes wrapped up in the Black Sea stories of both past and present, and thus tells us stories of Polish poets and the plight of the once ubiquitous sturgeon with equal passion. A superb read.
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