The Caucasus : An Introduction
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Review
Nobody has dealt with today's Transcaucasia as lucidly as Thomas de Waal. (Donald Rayfield, Times Literary Supplement )
Astute...Lucis and scrupulous account...De Waal [is] among [the region's] best interpretors. (John Lloyd, Financial Times )
As a clear, brief guide to the countries of south Caucasus, it would be hard to do better than this book. (The Economist )
A compact but rich book. (C. J. Chivers, New York Times Blog )
It is refreshing - almost starlting - to read a book of the Caucasus with such a cool, dispassionate take. (C. J. Chivers, New York Times Blog )
Astute...Lucis and scrupulous account...De Waal [is] among [the region's] best interpretors. (John Lloyd, Financial Times )
As a clear, brief guide to the countries of south Caucasus, it would be hard to do better than this book. (The Economist )
A compact but rich book. (C. J. Chivers, New York Times Blog )
It is refreshing - almost starlting - to read a book of the Caucasus with such a cool, dispassionate take. (C. J. Chivers, New York Times Blog )
Product Description
In this well-researched and fascinating book, noted journalist Thomas de Waal--author of the highly acclaimed Black Garden--makes the case that while the Caucasus is often treated as a sub-plot in the history of Russia, or as a mere gateway to Asia, the five-day war in Georgia, which flared into a major international crisis in 2008, proves that this is still a combustible region, whose inner dynamics and history deserve a much more complex appreciation from the wider world. In The Caucasus, de Waal provides this richer, deeper, and much-needed appreciation, one that reveals that the South Caucasus--Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and their many smaller regions, enclaves, and breakaway entities--is a fascinating and distinct world unto itself. Providing both historical background and an insightful analysis of the period after 1991, de Waal sheds light on how the region has been scarred by the tumultuous scramble for independence and the three major conflicts that broke out with the end of the Soviet Union--Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. The book examines the region as a major energy producer and exporter; offers a compelling account of the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the rise of Mikheil Saakashvili, and the August 2008 war; and considers the failure of the South Caucasus, thus far, to become a single viable region. In addition, the book features a dozen or so "boxes" which provide brief snapshots of such fascinating side topics as the Kurds, Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, the promotion of the region as the "Soviet Florida," and the most famous of all Georgians, Stalin. The Caucasus delivers a vibrantly written and timely account of this turbulent region, one that will prove indispensable for all concerned with world politics. It is, as well, a stimulating read for armchair travellers and for anyone curious about far-flung corners of the world.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think (as the previous reviewer with his concern about the Georgian diaspora appears to have done) it is easy to forget how ground-breaking and important the whole of Tom de Waal's book is, and just get wrapped up in the details. The group of writers doing serious research into the Caucasus who present their findings in a neutral, clear and reliable way is minute, and he is at their centre. He wears his huge knowledge very lightly and most readers would gain no idea from this small, excellent book how much serious work has gone into it.
His previous books have focussed on specific parts of the region (Chechnya and Nagorny-Karabakh), but this time he has taken on the whole South Caucasus and thus given a secure foundation for anyone wanting to find out about the region, or to do further research into it. Almost all other works that I know are either biassed (pro-Soviet, anti-Russian, pro-American), good but spread too thin (Charles King's the Ghost of Freedom) or just rubbish. His patient debunking of myths and establishing of narrative may not seem a glorious task, but it is necessary, and extremely useful to anyone coming to the Caucasus for the first time.
Nationalists from all three (or six?) countries of the region will hate it, since it skewers their favoured myths and gives fair hearing to the complaints of the opposite side. But if the countries' politicians really wanted to help build a war-free future, they should translate this into Abkhaz, Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Mingrelian, Ossetian, Russian and Svan and use it as a textbook in every school and university they have.
His previous books have focussed on specific parts of the region (Chechnya and Nagorny-Karabakh), but this time he has taken on the whole South Caucasus and thus given a secure foundation for anyone wanting to find out about the region, or to do further research into it. Almost all other works that I know are either biassed (pro-Soviet, anti-Russian, pro-American), good but spread too thin (Charles King's the Ghost of Freedom) or just rubbish. His patient debunking of myths and establishing of narrative may not seem a glorious task, but it is necessary, and extremely useful to anyone coming to the Caucasus for the first time.
Nationalists from all three (or six?) countries of the region will hate it, since it skewers their favoured myths and gives fair hearing to the complaints of the opposite side. But if the countries' politicians really wanted to help build a war-free future, they should translate this into Abkhaz, Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Mingrelian, Ossetian, Russian and Svan and use it as a textbook in every school and university they have.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book, and most of the author's writing, is fair, intelligent and enlightening. He is the voice of reason. Articulate, with a sound grasp of culture and history, the author steers his way through the minefield of the region's history, and allows outsiders to gain a better understanding of the region and the peoples who inhabit this part of the world. Inspirational.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Caucasus: An Introduction]] Perhaps if you read the whole book, it would be easy to memorize different quotes, f.e.: "More division and conflict can be avoided if the different parts of the South Caucasus start to think less like individual actors and more like members of a region", (De Waal, 2010, p.226 in Conclusions) I believe such a vision is not clear for the internal, but also external decision-making players.
Personally would fully share it from last 10 years experience of daily reporting of Northern and South Caucasus, would also agree with author on his evaluation of the EU "slow" role in the South Caucasus. I am glad that book is available in USA as well and hope, that US & British politicians would be obliged to read it, prior travel to the region - so often they are badly informed about most recent and previous century history, that makes their action poor. There is clear need in the translation to at least few other European languages, to speed up some of the slow EU officials. We definitely need more books like this, linking historical and contemporary realities in one knot. I would suggest to check recent Economist book review (Playground for war, Oct 21st 2010, A beautiful fought-over region) on Thomas work: "as a clear, brief guide to the countries of the south Caucasus, it would be hard to do better than this book."
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On behalf of Gregory Shvedov, 24/7 Internet agency Caucasian Knot, chief editor
Personally would fully share it from last 10 years experience of daily reporting of Northern and South Caucasus, would also agree with author on his evaluation of the EU "slow" role in the South Caucasus. I am glad that book is available in USA as well and hope, that US & British politicians would be obliged to read it, prior travel to the region - so often they are badly informed about most recent and previous century history, that makes their action poor. There is clear need in the translation to at least few other European languages, to speed up some of the slow EU officials. We definitely need more books like this, linking historical and contemporary realities in one knot. I would suggest to check recent Economist book review (Playground for war, Oct 21st 2010, A beautiful fought-over region) on Thomas work: "as a clear, brief guide to the countries of the south Caucasus, it would be hard to do better than this book."
--------------------
On behalf of Gregory Shvedov, 24/7 Internet agency Caucasian Knot, chief editor
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