{"product_id":"history-of-the-caucasus-volume-2-in-the-shadow-of-great-powers-9780755636280","title":"History of the Caucasus: Volume 2: In the Shadow of Great Powers","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn the Shadow of Great Powers\u003c\/i\u003e is the second volume of Christoph Baumer's \u003ci\u003eHistory of the Caucasus\u003c\/i\u003e. 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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. \u003ci\u003eIn the Shadow of Great Powers\u003c\/i\u003e includes some 200 full-colour images and maps which further bring the turbulent history of this region to light.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristoph Baumer\u003c\/b\u003e is a leading explorer and historian of Central Asia, Tibet and the Caucasus - has written many well-received books in the fields of history, religion, archaeology and travel. These include \u003ci\u003eThe Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity\u003c\/i\u003e (2006), \u003ci\u003eTraces in the Desert: Journeys of Discovery across Central Asia \u003c\/i\u003e(2008), \u003ci\u003eChina's Holy Mountain: An Illustrated Journey into the Heart \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eof Buddhism\u003c\/i\u003e (2011) and the seminal \u003ci\u003eHistory of Central Asia\u003c\/i\u003e in four volumes (2012-2018), all published by I.B.Tauris. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDr Baumer is President of the Society for the Exploration of EurAsia, Senior Research Fellow at the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences, and a member of the Explorers' Club, New York, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, London. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal, awarded to him by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs in 2015.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"I. B. Tauris \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50635048976658,"sku":"9780755636280","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_58e1e57e-ad93-4640-a494-868b805e9503.jpg?v=1732830318","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/history-of-the-caucasus-volume-2-in-the-shadow-of-great-powers-9780755636280","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}