Customer Reviews

The Circassians: A Handbook (Peoples of the Caucasus Handbooks)

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The Circassians are one of the world's forgotten peoples. This volume provides in itself a most useful source for a wide variety of information about them and, thanks to the rich bibliography (see another on the author's website), gives readers the opportunity to find out even more from works of narrower but deeper focus.

The Circassians historically spread across the N. W. Caucasus, speaking a language that was closely related to, but mutually unintelligible with, Ubykh and Abkhaz(-Abaza). The Ubykhs lived compactly around today's Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, whilst to their south(-east) lay the ancestral homeland of the Abkhazians. Though contacts existed with the Graeco-Roman world and then with Genoese traders a millennium later, it was not really until an expansive Tsarist Russia started to vie with Turkey for control of the region from the late 18th century that Circassia again impinged on the European conscience. A number of moving accounts have been left by such British visitors as James Bell, John Longworth and Edmund Spencer, which contributed to heightened awareness of the noble Circassian-Ubykh-Abkhazian resistance to the Russian aggressor and sympathy for their cause amongst many in Britain and Europe during the 1830s -- just as the parallel battle for freedom led by Shamil in the N. E. Caucasus excited great admiration. But the inevitable happened in 1864 when the N. W. Caucasian alliance was finally defeated and Russia took control. Most of the surviving Circassians and Abkhazians together with ALL the Ubykhs chose to leave their territories and take refuge in Ottoman lands (mainly Turkey). Ubykh died out in 1992, and the future for Circassian and Abkhaz amongst the diaspora is bleak -- in many ways the future of these two languages even in the Caucasian homeland is far from secure.

Amjad Jaimoukha comes from a Kabardian (East Circassian) family in Jordan and has done his people great service in producing this volume. The main deficiency is the absence of any description of the Circassian language, which, to confess a long-held personal belief, I find to be the most beautiful sounding language I have ever heard, and whose loss would be a tragedy not only for the Circassians as an ethno-linguistic group but also for the world of language-study. One or two other points could be made, as indeed I have in a fuller review for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, but for the purposes of comment here I hope that the book is successful and enjoyed by all its readers.

I have read all the books I could find about this subject,and
I think that this one is by far the most comprehensive. Clearly
the author has put an enormous amount of work and "IT SHOWS".

The Circassians had constituted a well known culture until the end of the XIXth century, when they were scattered across the world and became one of many unfortunate diasporas. Had I been asked a couple of years ago about the Circassians, I would have said that this culture was becoming a subject for historians. With Amjad Jaimoukha's book, I am beginning to believe that this culture will survive, not only in history books, but within its members and by its members. "The Circassians : a Handbook" is a scientific review, free of hearsay and a-priori assumptions, in which the author was able to combine history, tradition and future prospects representing the different views of the many tribes that constituted the Circassian entity. The reader for whom the subject is familiar will still discover in this book details that are only known to 'insiders', whereas the novel discoverer will learn about the many aspects that characterised this culture. The bibliography at the end !of the book is a masterpiece of completeness, and has never been as thouroughly investigated and presented. The Circassian sayings will demonstrate, if need be, the universality of wisdom amongst different cultures. From a Circassian point of view, I am very proud to see one of us presenting our heritage as it was originally perceived by our fore-bearers : a culture and not a religion, a nation and not a race, a future and not only a past. I strongly recommend reading this book to gain a better understanding of the current events taking place in the Caucasus but also in the many areas in the world where emigrants have sought refuge.

Abkhazian, Circassian, now I am looking forward to have Ubykh one from same handbook series, I do want to thanks to Amjad Jaimoukha for his extraordinary work.

Excellent Source of information!

its wonderful handbook for all circassians and travellers also.i think little circassian childs can learn their past and their lands with that..there was much books about there but this is more useful then others.thank you.

I was given this book as a gift by two different people. I read it and was disappointed to find very easily discoverable errors in regards to the history of the Circassians. I would say get this book, but read cautiously.

I found this book to be of great value especially to students of the Caucasus in the West, to whom the name Circassian has very little meaning. Jamoukha has done a worthwhile service in collating the information about the Circassians as a valuable and comprehensive reference work with an impressive biliographyMuridism: A Study of the Caucasian Wars 1819 - 1859. I recommend it highly to all those interested in North Caucasian culture and history.