The Caucasus

Contextualizes recent Russia/Georgia clash through an accessible history of the region in modern times. Thomas De Waal is a noted expert on the region, having written two acclaimed books on it: "Black Garden" and "Chechnya." In this well-researched book, he 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 this is a combustible region, whose inner dynamics and history deserve a much more complex appreciation. In The Caucasus,…