(cambridge.org) For the first time, this major new survey of the Caucasus traces a unified narrative history of this complex and turbulent region at the borderlands of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, from prehistory to the present. For thousands of years the Caucasus has formed the intersection of routes of migration, invasion, trade and culture, and a geographical bridge between Europe and Asia, subject to recurring imperial invasion. Drawing on sources in English, Russian, Persian and Arabic, amongst others, this authoritative study centres on the region's many indigenous peoples, including Abkhazians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens and Circassians, and their relations with outsiders who still play an important part in the life of the region today. The book presents a critical view of the historical role of Russian imperialism in events in the Caucasian countries, and the violent struggle of some of these peoples in their efforts to establish a precarious independence.
A fascinating new survey of the Caucasus which provides a unified narrative history of this complex and turbulent region at the borderlands of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, from prehistory to the present. For thousands of years the Caucasus has formed a hub of intersecting routes of migration, invasion, trade and culture and a geographical bridge between Europe and Asia, subject to recurring imperial invasion. Drawing on sources in English, Russian and translations from Persian and Arabic, this authoritative study centres on the region's indigenous peoples, including Abkhazians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Daghestanis, Circassians, and Georgians, and their relations with outsiders who still play a part in the life of the region today. The book presents a critical view of the role of Russian imperialism in the Caucasian countries and the desperate struggle of most of its native peoples in their efforts to establish a precarious independence.
An authoritative and comprehensive history of the Caucasus and its peoples from prehistory to the present Treats the Caucasus as a distinct region in its own right, highlighting its relationship with its Middle Eastern neighbours Highlights the region's long struggle against Iranian, Turkish and Russian domination
Read more at cambridge.org/caucasus history
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Caucasian origins
2. Early medieval Caucasia: the seventh to tenth centuries
3. The Caucasus, Persia, Turkestan, Azerbaijan, Europe: 10th–12th centuries
4. The later Crusades, Mongols and Ottoman Turks 13th–15th centuries
5. Georgia, Shirvan and North Caucasus to the 15th century
6. Caucasia between Persia and Ottoman Turkey
7. The Caucasus and the Russians
8. Caucasia in the eighteenth century
9. Russia's conquest of the Caucasus
10. World War and Russian revolution
11. Independent Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and North Caucasus
12. White Russians, native insurrection, Bolshevik conquest
13. The North and South Caucasus peoples 1920–39
14. The Second World War, Beria and Stalin
15. Caucasia from Stalin's death to the 1980s (1)
16. Caucasia from Stalin's death to the 1980s (2)
17. The Caucasus and the end of the Soviet Union
18. Armenia, Karabagh, Azerbaijan
19. Georgia 1987–93
20. North Caucasus 1987–93
21. The Caucasus enters the twenty-first century
22. Russian arbitrary politics and Georgian resurgence
Bibliography.
James Forsyth is former Reader and Head of the Department of Russian at the University of Aberdeen. His publications include A History of the Peoples of Siberia (Cambridge, 1992).
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more links:
The Caucasus: A History (Englisch). Von James Forsyth
The caucasus by James Forsyth
James Forsyth: The Caucasus. A History. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013
Book Review: Caucasus Natives Neglected As Olympics Close in Sochi [themoscowtimes.com]
Eingebettet, nicht eingefroren. Konflikte und Regime im Kaukasus: Ein Literaturbericht [eurozine.com]
