Customer Reviews

Caucasus: A Journey to the Land between Christianity and Islam

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Nick Griffin had taken a trip to the Caucasus to make a film about this region and turned it into an historical treatise. He does a great job of intertwining recent history with the history of the areas he is travelling through. More importantly he spends a lot of time trying to educate the reader into the culture, society and thought processes of the people who live there.

What we see in the overall picture is that the Russians who have tried to control this area since the middle of the 19th century have never learned to deal with these people with anything but force which has never worked. Though the Russians controlled the area they never controlled the people. The Chechens have turned out to be the most resourceful, and have been fighting off and on against their occupiers for over 150 years.

For anyone who wants to get a overall view as to what is the cause of troubles in this region, this book is invaluable. I look forward to reading his follow book.

Historical facts blend with a travelogue narrative recounting Nicholas Griffin's personal journey through the region in his vividly written Caucasus, an informed and informative examination of the clash of cultures and ancient to modern conflicts inherent in this strife torn area. From headlines about the Chechen insurgency, to the terrain and everyday life of the Caucasus peoples, Nicholas Griffin's Caucasus is not to be missed.

I've always felt much safer following novelists into non-fiction than say biographers, or historians into the realms of fiction. Griffin, who has written a couple of historical novels, is on familiar, though foreign ground. His fictional stories seem to examine cruelty and hope and his first work of non-fiction is no exception. It's a mixture of many genres, all neatly rolled into a short, decisive book. The Caucasus is one of those places, much like the Balkans, which used to confuse me to the point where I'd rather turn the page. But Griffin keeps everything simple and clear, following myths, history and politics along the lines of an expanding Christian nation (Russia) and a defensive Islamic nation (what came to be called Chechnya, Dagestan and Azerbaijan). This book is obviously more topical than the author thought when starting it four years ago. My only complaint is in the inclusion of the author's own travels. At first, it didn't feel as if they merited belonging, but once you catch the writer's drift, that everything is really very close to how it was two hundred years ago, his aims become more and more apparent. Caucasus is blessedly easy to read, and that's no mean feat.

Decent book about the turbulent Caucasus region. Part history, part travelogue, the author traveled around the region with a filmmaker, photographer and translator. There are some interesting and comical incidents along the way as they meet and live with the locals of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. They even briefly visit Chechnya despite the danger of kidnappings and war with Russia. I would have liked more coverage of Armenia which is essentialy dealt with in a few pages. Most of the history part deals with Imam Shamil, the legendary Avar warrior who gave the Russians hell for decades. I thought this was overkill. The most famous Caucasian, Stalin, is dealt with in a single paragraph. Quite amusing were the antics of the "translator" Ilya, a rambunctious Uzbek Jew whose broken English hardly qualifies him for the position. The author's travels took place around 1999 so the book is dated but worth the read if you're interested.

Together with photographer John Boit, filmmaker Taran Davies, and a translator, Nicholas Griffin embarked on a search for the legacy of the heroic 19th century Islamic warrior, Imam Shamil. Griffin slides in and out of Caucasus history and politics between glimpses of his contemporary encounters.

In Tbilisi, Georgia they acquired transportation. "It didn't matter which taxi, they were both small, orange Ladas... built in the 1970's, both employed a canny use of string for seat-belts and both had splintered back and front windscreens. We agreed that should the taxi be stolen we would owe our hosts no more than $200." It takes them to stay with Ararat Sargsyan in Armenia. "Meal after meal is provided, his son Arshak becomes our guide, his friends open their houses to us, encourage us to visit. ... His friends consist of a colony of artists..." Christian Armenia is shockingly European "Everywhere there are people sipping coffee. Jazz cafes pour people on to the streets. We attend piano recitals, artists' studios, a modern dance rehearsal." Yet none will speak of Shamil. "Men who know the entire histories of their nations, who quote Western philosophers at us, do not recognize his name."

Beyond Armenia is Azerbaijan. "Baku's coast is a mixture of yellow sands and black oils. Nodding derricks gather like packs of donkeys in the oilfields." Azerbaijan's capital is a city of "park-lined promenades, ... a hive of narrow streets defended on 3 sides by a crenellated wall, ...stone mansions raised at the height of Baku's oil wealth ... rub shoulders with rundown shacks. There are potholes that could double as trenches." Beyond the historic core are "...concrete suburbs, Soviet monoliths scattered with no seeming purpose other than to scar the landscape. Abruptly, the suburbs are followed by empty, arid land."

Arrangements to enter Chechnya or Dagestan are complicated and repeatedly canceled with warnings. "In Dagestan, they are killing everyone. They are very cosmopolitan in this way." Ilya Suleymanov, the translator, is "... dark-skinned, dark-eyed and speaks perfect Russian. In New York, Ilya admitted that he had often played on his resemblance to a Chechen to keep the unwanted at arm's length. This was one of the reasons for Taran's decision to bring Ilya to the Caucasus."

After all possibilities evaporated for the team to enter either Chechnya or Dagestan, Ilya heads across the border into Dagestan alone. For two days, Griffin imagines "...Ilya divided, recycled and celebrated." But Ilya succeeded in reaching Gounib and climbed above the village to a makeshift mosque where he found "... two small boys praying before a reproduction of Shamil. The branches of the trees that surrounded the low building were tied with thousands of strips of cloth, resembling myriad bandages binding wooden wounds. They are prayer rags, marks of intent, and are found not just outside mosques but also about Christian churches in the Caucasus."

One of the arrangers the team hires "...is a large man, a loose slab of stomach shaded by an enormous handlebar moustache. He equals Mr. Ramiz cigarette for cigarette and sweats only vodka." Griffin's evocative descriptions allow the reader to breathe and taste what he experiences.

In late September 1999 they leave the Caucasus without visiting the Shamil sites in Chechnya and Dagestan that inspired their journey. Nevertheless, Griffin produces a book that tells the history of Shamil, the Russian wars in the Caucasus, the Nobels in Baku and more. Boit has photographs and Davies has enough footage for his documentary, "Mountain Men and Holy Wars."

This is an excellent introduction to the history of the Caucasus region. learly an concisely written. Narative gives reader a quick nderstanding of political and cultural events of the past. Good foundation for further reading