Caucasus: A Journey in the Crucible of Civilisation

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Description

The Caucasus is a jagged land. Sandwiched between the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, Turkey to the west, Iran to the south and Russia to the north, if the Caucasus didn't already possess the highest mountain range in Europe, the massive political pressure exerted from all sides would have forced the land to crack and rise anyway. Conquered in its time by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Peter the Great, Hitler and Stalin, its history is eventful to say the least. Noah's Ark lies, apparently, on the borders of Armenia; the Garden of Eden can be found in the south of Azerbaijan; and Prometheus was, for his sins, bound and pecked on the peak of a mountain in Georgia. Now, Nicholas Griffin combines history with travelogue as he explores the Caucasus in search of the legacy of Imam Shamil, 19th-century freedom fighter and guru of today's Chechen resistance.

Reviews

This enthralling ride through the past before arriving at the present, through legend before fact, this deft retelling of the tragedy of these mountains conveys a great deal about life in the Caucasus today - Times Literary Supplement

Author Bio

Nicholas Griffin is an award-winning novelist. This is his first work of non-fiction.