A review by inquiry_from_an_anti_library
Black Sea by Neal Ascherson

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.