- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press (14 May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226308596
- ISBN-13: 978-0226308593
- Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.1 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 693,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The rugged land between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus is the front line of a fascinating and formidable clash of cultures; Russia on one side, the predominantly Muslim mountains on the other. Here, award-winning author Nicholas Griffin recounts his journey to the Caucasus to explore the roots of today's conflict, centering his account on Imam Shamil, the greatest Muslim warrior of the nineteenth century, who remains virtually unknown in the West.
About the Author
Nicholas Griffin's first novel, Requiem Shark, won the Betty Trask Prize in 2000. He is also the author of The House of Sight and Shadow.
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First Sentence
To attempt to unravel the history of the Caucasus would force the presumption that history would cease moving long enough for a considered look. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
To attempt to unravel the history of the Caucasus would force the presumption that history would cease moving long enough for a considered look. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a well written book giving a history of the Caucasian insurrection against Russian colonialism and then recently in the Chechen war of the 90's. His sources are restricted to the main authorities on the subject and the rest of the book follows personal travels through post breakup SSR. A good book, but there are far more authoritative and detailed books on the subject- Gammer/ Broxup/ Baddeley for starters. So in the end it will probably be one of those books you may pick up by chance because you don't know about other texts in the field.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Eye Opening View of a Little Known Region
30 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
Nick Griffin had taken a trip to the Caucasus to make a film about this region and turned it into an historical treatise. He does a great job of intertwining recent history with the history of the areas he is travelling through. More importantly he spends a lot of time trying to educate the reader into the culture, society and thought processes of the people who live there.
What we see in the overall picture is that the Russians who have tried to control this area since the middle of the 19th century have never learned to deal with these people with anything but force which has never worked. Though the Russians controlled the area they never controlled the people. The Chechens have turned out to be the most resourceful, and have been fighting off and on against their occupiers for over 150 years.
For anyone who wants to get a overall view as to what is the cause of troubles in this region, this book is invaluable. I look forward to reading his follow book.
What we see in the overall picture is that the Russians who have tried to control this area since the middle of the 19th century have never learned to deal with these people with anything but force which has never worked. Though the Russians controlled the area they never controlled the people. The Chechens have turned out to be the most resourceful, and have been fighting off and on against their occupiers for over 150 years.
For anyone who wants to get a overall view as to what is the cause of troubles in this region, this book is invaluable. I look forward to reading his follow book.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Historical facts blend with a travelogue
9 July 2004
Format:Paperback
Historical facts blend with a travelogue narrative recounting Nicholas Griffin's personal journey through the region in his vividly written Caucasus, an informed and informative examination of the clash of cultures and ancient to modern conflicts inherent in this strife torn area. From headlines about the Chechen insurgency, to the terrain and everyday life of the Caucasus peoples, Nicholas Griffin's Caucasus is not to be missed.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Revealing
25 Mar 2004
Format:Paperback
I've always felt much safer following novelists into non-fiction than say biographers, or historians into the realms of fiction. Griffin, who has written a couple of historical novels, is on familiar, though foreign ground. His fictional stories seem to examine cruelty and hope and his first work of non-fiction is no exception. It's a mixture of many genres, all neatly rolled into a short, decisive book. The Caucasus is one of those places, much like the Balkans, which used to confuse me to the point where I'd rather turn the page. But Griffin keeps everything simple and clear, following myths, history and politics along the lines of an expanding Christian nation (Russia) and a defensive Islamic nation (what came to be called Chechnya, Dagestan and Azerbaijan). This book is obviously more topical than the author thought when starting it four years ago. My only complaint is in the inclusion of the author's own travels. At first, it didn't feel as if they merited belonging, but once you catch the writer's drift, that everything is really very close to how it was two hundred years ago, his aims become more and more apparent. Caucasus is blessedly easy to read, and that's no mean feat.
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