While the title is THE CAUCUSES, one finds out almost immediately that the book is limited to the South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It has very little information on the North Caucasus: Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia which were my primary interests. It is written primarily as a research text without narrative flow. Therefore, one can pick and choose the parts of interest easily and forego others. Though 'The Caucasus: An Introduction' gives a readable and reasonably detailed analysis of Georgia's conflicts and contemporary political dynamics, de Waal does not discuss any of the other tragedies that have taken place in the Caucasus across the last two decades in any real detail. This is a disappointing book considering the quality of his other studies of the region. Both chapters dedicated to discussing the relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the wake of Soviet collapse fail to get to the heart of the issue, and neither offers a solid analysis of the Nagorno-Karabakh question. Newcomers to the subject may find this an interesting starting point, but for those hoping to really understand the Caucasus I suggest looking elsewhere.
Great overall look at the Caucasus and fairly up to date. Highly recommend it.
—yen456
A very insightful introduction to a very complicated region of the world.
—Rockchyck
A great intro to the region. Modern-centric, but well done.
—zhel
Extremely helpful for preparing for my trip to Georgia!
—Yves
Not an objective history, but comprehensive.
—krutarth
