- Paperback: 520 pages
- Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks; New edition edition (12 Jun 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1850434034
- ISBN-13: 978-1850434030
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.8 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 521,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'...masterly account of Chechnya's struggle against 19th-century Tsarist Russia, ominously relevant to today's conflict. Her portrait of Shamyl, the Chechen leader-prophet, was widely admired and Blanch is still consulted by historians.' The Sunday Times 'I can imagine no better introduction to modern Russia.' New York Times Book Review 'The reissue of the classic The Sabres of Paradise is to be warmly applauded. The result of four years of research and local travel, this is a uniquely original and fresh introduction to a forgotten world and in particular to that of the most important colonial war of the 19th Century.' Lawrence Kelly, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and acclaimed author of numerous books on Russian history '...an epic account of Tsarist Russia's attempt to subdue Dagestan in the 1800s.' Mowahid H. Shah, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; The Great Britain-Russian Journal. Reviewed by Laurence Kelly: "All is conveyed in a rich and evocative style that carries the reader effortlessly through an exceptionally complex and confusing period of history... Blanch... opens vistas which might elude more strictly academic historians".
Product Description
The Caucasus - a region of supreme natural beauty and fiercely proud warriors - has throughout history been characterised by violence and turmoil. During the Great Caucasus War of 1834-1859, the warring mountain tribes of Daghestan and Chechnya united under the charismatic leadership of the Muslim chieftain Imam Shamyl, the 'Lion of Daghestan'. For twenty-five years this disparate band of guerrillas held at bay the mighty armies of invading Russia - strengthened only by the desire for an independent Caucasus and their religious faith. Their ferocious battles have inspired generations of fighters and their memory continues to haunt the Russian psyche. Lesley Blanch vividly recounts the epic story of their heroic and bloody struggle and the life of a man still legendary in the Caucasus. This is an extraordinary account, particularly relevant in light of the continuing conflict in Chechnya today.
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First Sentence
Today, the name of Shamyl means little outside Russia and the Near East, though there are exiled Caucasian families living in Turkey (among them some of Shamyl's descendants) who still hang his portrait on their walls with all the reverence accorded to an ikon. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Today, the name of Shamyl means little outside Russia and the Near East, though there are exiled Caucasian families living in Turkey (among them some of Shamyl's descendants) who still hang his portrait on their walls with all the reverence accorded to an ikon. 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 colourful, well written account of russia's conquest of the caucasus in the 19th century. The book conveys a powerful image of the raw beauty of the caucasus which inspired the likes of tolstoy and pushkin. You also get an intimate portrait of the historical charcters at the heart of the events of the time including the russian royal court, the various viceroys sent by the tsar to subjugate the caucasus and most importantly the fierce and proud mountain tribes such as chechens and the avars. The central character is imam shamil, the lion of dagestan, a fierce, austere and gifted leader who seems to embody the stubborness of the tribes and the mountains they inhabit. The book is also relative to the political situation which exists in the caucasus today. Rebels in chechnya and dagestan fight for a caucasus emirate similar to the state shamil tried to setup in the 19th century.
3 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book reflects the chivalrous true side of the Chechens and their lifestyle.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
good read indeed, but full of mistakes.
27 May 2005
Format:Paperback
Have to say, it reads fast and pleasant. You will not regret getting this book if you decide to do so. I withheld two stars because book claims to be historical, while there are quite a few inaccuracies.
I respect the admiration author has for Caucasian mountaineers (being descendent of such it is especially pleasant), but she definitely overromanticizes her hero(s). Shamyl is great enough figure and Chechens are brave enough people to be in need of overglorification.
Book tells a lot of legends and passes them as facts. Some most naïve, even silly XIX c stereotypes are restated without questioning - i.e. Khevsurs being descendents of Crusaders who passed through Caucasus in their due time!!! This lame assumption is based on the fact of cross being important symbol among Khevsurs (who in fact are Georgian mountaineers, just like Svans (Suanetians) who Blanch "mistakes" for Muslim North Caucasians (in fact they are Christian). Khevsur cross is pre-Christian symbol (sufficient archeological evidence for anyone who cares to check).
Blanch also retells number of legends told by Alexander Dumas in his "Adventures in the Caucasus" (without referring to the source!) And names some of those legends (I remember two: Shete, child-tongue cutter; and a father who cut up his son's dead body into 70 pieces and sent to his relatives as a request for revenge...) as "Chechen stories", while Dumas tells them as Tushetian ones (another Georgian Christian tribe).
Either she is mistaken, or she purposefully mislocates the origin of characters in order to draw a portrait of Chechens the way she wants. It is OK to be mistaken and I hope it is just a mistake, because I really don't like when writer misleads the reader...
There is not much research done and there are very few books written about Caucasian history in any language. Despite what I said above, this one is probably the best among English books I have come across. So, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you are not a history buff, but a sucker for good romantic story about bravery and glory and freedom, etc. We may say, story is "based on true story". Enjoy it!
I respect the admiration author has for Caucasian mountaineers (being descendent of such it is especially pleasant), but she definitely overromanticizes her hero(s). Shamyl is great enough figure and Chechens are brave enough people to be in need of overglorification.
Book tells a lot of legends and passes them as facts. Some most naïve, even silly XIX c stereotypes are restated without questioning - i.e. Khevsurs being descendents of Crusaders who passed through Caucasus in their due time!!! This lame assumption is based on the fact of cross being important symbol among Khevsurs (who in fact are Georgian mountaineers, just like Svans (Suanetians) who Blanch "mistakes" for Muslim North Caucasians (in fact they are Christian). Khevsur cross is pre-Christian symbol (sufficient archeological evidence for anyone who cares to check).
Blanch also retells number of legends told by Alexander Dumas in his "Adventures in the Caucasus" (without referring to the source!) And names some of those legends (I remember two: Shete, child-tongue cutter; and a father who cut up his son's dead body into 70 pieces and sent to his relatives as a request for revenge...) as "Chechen stories", while Dumas tells them as Tushetian ones (another Georgian Christian tribe).
Either she is mistaken, or she purposefully mislocates the origin of characters in order to draw a portrait of Chechens the way she wants. It is OK to be mistaken and I hope it is just a mistake, because I really don't like when writer misleads the reader...
There is not much research done and there are very few books written about Caucasian history in any language. Despite what I said above, this one is probably the best among English books I have come across. So, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you are not a history buff, but a sucker for good romantic story about bravery and glory and freedom, etc. We may say, story is "based on true story". Enjoy it!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Wonderful and informative narrative
12 Mar 2000
Format:Paperback
As a student of Russian history, I must say that this book is the best I have ever read. It covers Russian cultural perspective as no book can, and brings into focus the tragedy of Chechynia and Daghestan like nothing else could. Nothing is a better source for understanding 19th and 20th century Russia.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Lion of Dhagestan
14 Dec 2001
Format:Paperback
The reviews I've read so far fail to emphasize that this book, while it certainly covers much of the history of the Caucuses in the latter half of the 19th century, is in no small part a biography of Imam Shamyl, "The Lion of Dhagestan", and his role as the leader of what was referred to as "The Mureed Wars". Shamyl was a legendary, charismatic leader who, through the power of his Islamic faith, and with the added dimension of being son-in-law of one of the great Shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi order (Jamaluddin Ghumuqi), united the various tribes and peoples of this region to fight off the great Russian Bear for nearly 25 years. It is an epic tale of heroism and tragedy on a personal and cultural level, and will grip the reader as they follow the exploits and the battles that are still to this day legendary in the Caucuses.
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