High Caucasus

A Mountain Quest in Russia's Haunted Hinterland

Langue : English

Publié 21 juillet 2023 par Headline Publishing Group.

ISBN :
978-1-4722-9476-0
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5 étoiles (1 critique)

Emotionally scarred after witnessing the bloody climax of the Beslan school siege in Russia's North Caucasus, in which 314 hostages died, Tom Parfitt set out on a journey. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today. Starting in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountains to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Parfitt traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. This is a stunning story of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.

2 editions

A simple and beautiful book about a very complex region

5 étoiles

I'm simultaneously jealous of this whole Caucasus mountain trek, and grateful that the author described the scenery, the people he meets and their history in such a generous and humble way. This is not an ethno-study, an adventure book full of swagger or a historical essay, it's journalism in the purest form, with genuine curiosity and a real attachment to a region and its inhabitants.