History of the Caucasus: Volume 2: In the Shadow of Great Powers

In the Shadow of Great Powers is the second volume of Christoph Baumer's History of the Caucasus. It covers the period from the Seljuk domination of the Southern Caucasus around 1050 CE to the present day. After the Kingdom of Georgia's golden age of independent power and cultural blossoming in the 12th and early 13th centuries, the Caucasus was overrun by the Mongols and soon disintegrated into innumerable smaller kingdoms, principalities and khanates. At the same time, an Armenian kingdom in exile maintained a precarious independence in Cilicia, today's southern Turkey, by applying a three-way diplomatic policy balanced between the Mongol Il-Khanate, the Crusader states and, to a lesser degree, the Mameluke Empire. Then followed four centuries during which the highly fragmented polities of the North and South Caucasus became political pawns of the regional great powers, above all the Ottomans, Iran and Russia. In the wake of World War I the South Caucasus enjoyed a short-lived independence whereas its northern neighbours were engulfed by the Russian civil wars. But by 1921 the Soviet Union had re-established Russian dominance over the whole region and, from a Western perspective, the region 'disappeared' behind the Iron Curtain. Nevertheless, the Caucasian nations kept their pronounced identities even under Soviet rule, giving rise at the dissolution of the Soviet Union to a number of internecine conflicts. Whereas the Russian Federation managed to maintain its supremacy over the North Caucasus - albeit at the cost of bloody wars and insurrections - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia succeeded in more or less gaining control over their destiny. Of these three republics, only Azerbaijan secured a wide-ranging independence thanks to its fossil fuel resources. Following Russian interference, Georgia lost control over two of its provinces while Armenia remains dependent on Russian support in the face of its notoriously antagonistic relations with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Turkey over the unresolved issue of Karabakh. In the Shadow of Great Powers includes some 200 full-colour images and maps which further bring the turbulent history of this region to light.

Review: It's a splendid achievement - informed, considered and clear ... There's certainly no shortage of fascinating material ... Baumer enthrals us ... Once in a while there comes along a book by a fellow explorer that you wish to heaven you'd had the wherewithal and body of knowledge to write yourself. This is such a book. -- Benedict Allen * The Spectator *
Covering the last millennium of the region's history, this scholarly yet atlas-sized, sumptuously illustrated volume tells the story of a too-often overlooked corner of our continent with impressive even-handedness. Part coffee-table browser, part detailed history, this is a valuable telling of a turbulent history. -- Charlie Connelly * New European *
This book, based on over a thousand sources, is a worthy successor to volume one, completing an overview running from prehistory to the present day. Baumer's austere prose is free from the nationalism and ethnocentricity that, he warns, infect many accounts of the region's history. His book is an extraordinary achievement. -- John Mann * Literary Review *
In Christoph Baumer the Caucasus has a capable chronicler willing to plunge into even the most convoluted aspects of its past and emerge to present a clear-eyed account of a many-layered, often labyrinthine story ... Baumer has a knack for distilling extensive research from a wide range of sources about complicated and often recondite topics into a highly readable narrative. * Geographical *
Splendidly illustrated ... [Readers] will be well rewarded to plunge in and learn from Baumer's thorough and insightful narrative. -- David Chaffetz * Asian Review of Books *
[L]avishly illustrated yet surprisingly affordable combination of colourful coffee-table book and detailed historical survey aimed at the general reader. * Iran and the Caucasus *
The second volume of Christoph Baumer's extraordinary History of the Caucasus traces the history of the region from 1050 BC up to the modern age, brought to life through more than 200 colour images and maps. * Choice *
This superb, sweeping history of the Caucasus in the modern period promises to be the new standard set text in its field. * Alex Marshall, University of Glasgow, UK *