The Caucasus

The Caucasus PDF Author: Thomas de Waal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190683112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This new edition of The Caucasus is a thorough update of an essential guide that has introduced thousands of readers to a complex region. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the break-away territories that have tried to split away from them constitute one of the most diverse and challenging regions on earth, impressing the visitor with their multi-layered history and ethnic complexity. Over the last few years, the South Caucasus region has captured international attention again because of disputes between the West and Russia, its unresolved conflicts, and its role as an energy transport corridor to Europe. The Caucasus gives the reader a historical overview and an authoritative guide to the three conflicts that have blighted the region. Thomas de Waal tells the story of the "Five-Day War" between Georgia and Russia and recent political upheavals in all three countries. He also finds time to tell the reader about Georgian wine, Baku jazz and how the coast of Abkhazia was known as "Soviet Florida." Short, stimulating and rich in detail, The Caucasus is the perfect guide to this fascinating and little-understood region.

The Caucasus

The Caucasus PDF Author: Thomas de Waal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190683112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
This new edition of The Caucasus is a thorough update of an essential guide that has introduced thousands of readers to a complex region. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the break-away territories that have tried to split away from them constitute one of the most diverse and challenging regions on earth, impressing the visitor with their multi-layered history and ethnic complexity. Over the last few years, the South Caucasus region has captured international attention again because of disputes between the West and Russia, its unresolved conflicts, and its role as an energy transport corridor to Europe. The Caucasus gives the reader a historical overview and an authoritative guide to the three conflicts that have blighted the region. Thomas de Waal tells the story of the "Five-Day War" between Georgia and Russia and recent political upheavals in all three countries. He also finds time to tell the reader about Georgian wine, Baku jazz and how the coast of Abkhazia was known as "Soviet Florida." Short, stimulating and rich in detail, The Caucasus is the perfect guide to this fascinating and little-understood region.

The Caucasus

The Caucasus PDF Author: Thomas De Waal
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190683082
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Fully revised and updated, Tom de Waal's The Caucasus is an essential and authoritative introduction to this complex region. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the breakaway territories that have tried to split away from these states constitute one of the most diverse and challenging regions on earth, impressing the visitor with their multi-layered history, ethnic complexity, and seemingly intractable conflicts. Over the last few years, the South Caucasus region has captured international attention again because of its role in disputes between the West and Russia, its unsolved conflicts, and its role as an energy transport corridor to Europe. De Waal begins with a historical overview and then shifts his attention to the contemporary era, particularly the roiling conflicts over Nagorny Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. He also analyzes the energy politics of the region, the 2008 "Five-Day War" between Georgia and Russia, and recent political changes in all three countries. In addition, the book features brief snapshots of fascinating side topics such as Georgian wine, Baku jazz, and how the coast of Abkhazia came to be known as the "Soviet Florida." Concise, stimulating, and rich in detail, The Caucasus is the perfect guide to this fascinating and misunderstood region.

The Caucasus - An Introduction

The Caucasus - An Introduction PDF Author: Frederik Coene
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135203024
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
The Caucasus is one of the most complicated regions in the world: with many different peoples and political units, differing religious allegiances, and frequent conflicts, and where historically major world powers have clashed with each other. Until now there has been no single book for those wishing to learn about this complex region. This book fills the gap, providing a clear, comprehensive introduction to the Caucasus, which is suitable for all readers. It covers the geography; the historical development of the region; economics; politics and government; population; religion and society; culture and traditions; alongside its conflicts and international relations. Written throughout in an accessible style, it requires no prior knowledge of the Caucasus. The book will be invaluable for those researching specific issues, as well as for readers needing a thorough introduction to the region.

Legends of the Caucasus

Legends of the Caucasus PDF Author: David Hunt
Publisher: Saqi
ISBN: 0863568238
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The Caucasus has an extremely rich folk literature, almost unknown among English speakers, which includes myths, legends, magical tales, anecdotes and proverbs. The one hundred and one legends included in this book reflect the cultures of fourteen different ethnic groups - their dynamism and the matters that concerned them: survival against external dangers, the risk of starvation and the persistence of the family or clan as a coordinated group. Descended from an oral tradition, much of their knowledge was retained in memories and passed down the generations. Yet, with the introduction of the alphabet, the way of life they portray is rapidly becoming extinct. An incomparable collection, Legends of the Caucasus conveys the poetry and romance of these swiftly vanishing tribes. 'This book has brought into light some of the hidden treasures of the Caucasus ... A major contribution not only to the study of the Caucasus, but also to world folklore.' John Colarusso, McMaster University, Canada 'Inventive and meticulous in rendering the extraordinary folk poetry of the many nations of the Caucasus ... [This is] essential reading for anyone seeking an insight into the cultures of the Caucasus.' Donald Rayfield, Queen Mary University of London, UK

The Ghost of Freedom

The Ghost of Freedom PDF Author: Charles King
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0195177754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
" ... The first general history of the modern Caucasus, stretching from the beginning of Russian imperial expansion up to rise of new countries after the Soviet Union's collapse."--Cover.

Let Our Fame Be Great

Let Our Fame Be Great PDF Author: Oliver Bullough
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 046502257X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
The jagged peaks of the Caucasus Mountains have hosted a rich history of diverse nations, valuable trade, and incessant warfare. But today the region is best known for atrocities in Chechnya and the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. In Let Our Fame Be Great, journalist and Russian expert Oliver Bullough explores the fascinating cultural crossroads of the Caucasus, where Europe, Asia, and the Middle East intersect. Traveling through its history, Bullough tracks down the nations dispersed by the region's last two hundred years of brutal warfare. Filled with a compelling mix of archival research and oral history, Let Our Fame Be Great recounts the tenacious survival of peoples who have been relentlessly invaded and persecuted and yet woefully overlooked.

Chechnya

Chechnya PDF Author: Carlotta Gall
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 9780814731321
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
Recounts the story of the Chechens' struggle for independence and the Kremlin politics that precipitated it. The authors, both reporters on the scene during the war, trace the history of the conflict but focus on the military and political events of the war itself. They conclude with a discussion of the birth of an independent Chechnya. Several maps and a cast of characters are appended. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Security, Society and the State in the Caucasus

Security, Society and the State in the Caucasus PDF Author: Kevork Oskanian
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351134817
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
The Caucasus, including the South Caucasus states and Russia’s North Caucasus, continues to be an area of instability and conflict. This book, based on extensive original research, explores in detail at both the local and regional level the interaction between state and society and the impact of external actors' engagement in the region within a conceptual framework linking security and democracy. Unlike other books on the subject, which tend to examine the issues from a Western political science perspective, this book incorporates insights from sociology, geography and anthropology as well as politics and contains contributions from scholars who have carried out extensive research in the region within a European Commission-funded Seventh Framework Programme project.

History of the Caucasus

History of the Caucasus PDF Author: Christoph Baumer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755639693
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
"Rich and illuminating." Literary Review A landscape of high mountains and narrow valleys stretching from the Black to the Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region has been home to human populations for nearly 2 million years. In this richly illustrated 2-volume series, historian and explorer Christoph Baumer tells the story of the region's history through to the present day. It is a story of encounters between many different peoples, from Scythians, Turkic and Mongol peoples of the East to Greeks and Romans from the West, from Indo-European tribes from the West as well as the East, and to Arabs and Iranians from the South. It is a story of rival claims by Empires and nations and of how the region has become home to more than 50 languages that can be heard within its borders to this very day. This first volume charts the period from the emergence of the earliest human populations in the region – the first known human populations outside Africa - to the Seljuk conquests of 1050CE. Along the way the book charts the development of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age cultures, the first recognizable Caucasian state and the arrival of a succession of the great transnational Empires, from the Greeks, the Romans and the Armenian to competing Christian and Muslim conquerors. The History of the Caucasus: Volume 1 also includes more than 200 full colour images and maps bringing the changing cultures of these lands vividly to life.

Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus

Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus PDF Author: Georgi M. Derluguian
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226142821
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus is a gripping account of the developmental dynamics involved in the collapse of Soviet socialism. Fusing a narrative of human agency to his critical discussion of structural forces, Georgi M. Derluguian reconstructs from firsthand accounts the life story of Musa Shanib—who from a small town in the Caucasus grew to be a prominent leader in the Chechen revolution. In his examination of Shanib and his keen interest in the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, Derluguian discerns how and why this dissident intellectual became a nationalist warlord. Exploring globalization, democratization, ethnic identity, and international terrorism, Derluguian contextualizes Shanib's personal trajectory from de-Stalinization through the nationalist rebellions of the 1990s, to the recent rise in Islamic militancy. He masterfully reveals not only how external economic and political forces affect the former Soviet republics but how those forces are in turn shaped by the individuals, institutions, ethnicities, and social networks that make up those societies. Drawing on the work of Charles Tilly, Immanuel Wallerstein, and, of course, Bourdieu, Derluguian's explanation of the recent ethnic wars and terrorist acts in Russia succeeds in illuminating the role of human agency in shaping history.