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inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
2.0
Overview:
The Black Sea is not just a composition of various cultures, but has a character of its own. Although overfished, the Black Sea was abundant in fish, which provided wealth for the communities that used it. The Black Sea has many rivers draining into it, and with so much fresh water, that the bacterial biochemical process creates a deadly residual gas. The Black Sea witnessed the rise and fall of many peoples, and empires. Witnessed how they would treat each other. How they mistreated each other. These were diverse people, diverse neighbors. Saw each other as different. Saw the differences as inferiorities. Stories passed down claimed their own superiority over the others. But as archaeological evidence is gathered, the information threatens the inferiority claims. For whether the society was deemed civilized or barbarous, settled or nomadic, they were able to develop wealth and military capabilities.
Caveats?
The writing can be a little difficult. The writing quickly moves between different peoples and eras. This is a diverse history, representing many different people. But there is not much on each society. This is an introduction to many peoples, but to get an understanding of their culture would require more research.
carnation7's review against another edition
4.0
"There's such a lot of world to see..." sang Audrey Hepburn.
I chose to "take a look" at the geocultural complexity surrounding the Black Sea upon a thrilled friend's enthusiastic recommendation. No regrets.
I chuckled when I first opened the book and found a map. "Starts out promising, yup."
And indeed, if you squint through a wink, the book reads somewhat like a non-fiction companion to a fantasy novel - all fascinating world-building.
Even the most likable underdog keeps a few bloody corpses in the closet, it seems - there are no innocents in the history of the world. :/
I've appreciated Ascherson's authorial presence in the text. His musings and inclusion of personal, "hands-on" anecdotes reminded me of late Branko Fučić - and that is the highest praise I can personally give any scholar.
What I found particularly intriguing was his questioning of the concept of "nationhood". Makes me question my own notions. Not a pleasant enterprise, but might prove necessary. :/
I chose to "take a look" at the geocultural complexity surrounding the Black Sea upon a thrilled friend's enthusiastic recommendation. No regrets.
I chuckled when I first opened the book and found a map. "Starts out promising, yup."
And indeed, if you squint through a wink, the book reads somewhat like a non-fiction companion to a fantasy novel - all fascinating world-building.
Spoiler
Warrior tribes sailing through high grass mounted on horses; a sleeping princess laid out in a buried chamber; inconspicuous groups of people still speaking nearly-forgotten pre-Indo-European languages (!)... And in true "Game of Thrones"-fashion: bloody clashes, back-stabbing, agreements and betrayals...Even the most likable underdog keeps a few bloody corpses in the closet, it seems - there are no innocents in the history of the world. :/
I've appreciated Ascherson's authorial presence in the text. His musings and inclusion of personal, "hands-on" anecdotes reminded me of late Branko Fučić - and that is the highest praise I can personally give any scholar.
What I found particularly intriguing was his questioning of the concept of "nationhood". Makes me question my own notions. Not a pleasant enterprise, but might prove necessary. :/
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Fascinating, perhaps tragic. Not for those who prefer history straight up--it's part memoir/travelogue (but not annoyingly soul), part nature writing, part history, part socio-cultural meditation.
dansumption's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating and at times very personal history of the area around the Black Sea - including parts of modern day Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia, but with deep links to many European and Asian cultures from the Greeks to the Huns. Nations and ethnicities have met, traded and interacted here since the birth of civilisation (in fact, it was here that concepts such as "barbarian", "nation" and "refugee" first emerged), but despite being such a melting pot, neighbours often cling to divisions which are thousands of years old.
xalaila's review
5.0
Super interesante, lleno de datos y anécdotas para conocer y entender mejor lo que pasa alrededo del Mar Negro, desde las perspectivas rusa, turca, ucraniana, búlgara, abjasia, chechena y de tantos otros grupos que han habitado en la región durante más de 3,000 años.
Indispensable lectura.
Indispensable lectura.
brynhammond's review
4.0
I skimmed much of the modern content to get at ancient, medieval and early modern. I did catch a few tirades on the scourges of nationalism, which was fine. Quite interesting too with a focus on artificiality and the concoction of pasts that never were, to serve a contemporary agenda.
I liked it on the inception of the Civilization/Barbarian discourse... I say discourse because that's a word he hates even though he uses it himself. He's not too fond of new methods of history that look at how and why it's written instead of the 'contents'. But then he practices enough of this to analyse 'the invention of the barbarian'... that's the title of a book he depends on, by Edith Hall. Innovative book in its day, probably overstated in hindsight. On other questions too he seems to pick one scholarly work to give you a precis of. The upside is that he chooses interesting, if provocative and speculative, scholarly theses to do this with.
Top marks for his discussion of Scythian gender (right after one on Cossack gender, and in contrast). For 1995, I bet this was a fabulous discussion. In general he is very nicely open-minded on steppe people and steppe influence -- culture and institutions.
Skillfully written, a lovely read.
I liked it on the inception of the Civilization/Barbarian discourse... I say discourse because that's a word he hates even though he uses it himself. He's not too fond of new methods of history that look at how and why it's written instead of the 'contents'. But then he practices enough of this to analyse 'the invention of the barbarian'... that's the title of a book he depends on, by Edith Hall. Innovative book in its day, probably overstated in hindsight. On other questions too he seems to pick one scholarly work to give you a precis of. The upside is that he chooses interesting, if provocative and speculative, scholarly theses to do this with.
Top marks for his discussion of Scythian gender (right after one on Cossack gender, and in contrast). For 1995, I bet this was a fabulous discussion. In general he is very nicely open-minded on steppe people and steppe influence -- culture and institutions.
Skillfully written, a lovely read.
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