Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
by Robert D. Kaplan
List Price:
Our Price: $8.86
You Save: $6.09 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Robert D. KaplanEdition: Paperback
Published: 2001-10
ISBN: 0375705767
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
Book Review: Excellent writer for travel, not politics
Summary: 3 Stars
I thought this book was written beautifully and I can see why Kaplan has such a large following. However, like other reviewers, I found his opinions on politics rather excessive. He seems to think that "one size fits all" and perhaps misunderstands that the American way is not the way for everyone else.
The travelling and the characters are all excellantly described, but I think he focussed too much on his own political analysis. Also as an avid reader, I thought it profoundly odd when he (himself a journalist) critised members of the Azerbejani press as "impolite" for asking difficult questions to the authorities. I think that this has validified other writers opinions that I have read on the American media, claiming that large sections of the "liberal" press are becoming mute and embedded with the powers that be, gaining "access" which is so vital there.
My only other problem with this book was Kaplans coverage of the occupied territories in Palestine. The way it was described, one would think that there were no human rights abuses and that not even potential conflict was on the horizon.
Other than these observations, I found Kaplans travel writing to be exquisite. His trips east of the Balkans opened up worlds to me that are rarely conveyed through other mediums such as TV, Radio etc. I had known about the wars in the Caucuses, but Kaplan rightly highlights the international press' apathy to this region as opposed to the Balkans, which at the time was a lesser conflict.
All said, a good read which I would give 3.5 stars...if I could
Summary of Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus
The master of the hardheaded travelogue, Robert D. Kaplan returns with a book on what he calls "the New Near East," an area stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia that "might become the seismograph of world politics" in the new century. That doesn't sound like good news: "The pitiless history of the Near East [is] dominated by marauding armies and earthquakes while peace treaties have merely formalized temporary stalemates on the ground." Kaplan has made a career of writing about the world's trouble spots "without illusions"--his books Balkan Ghosts and The Ends of the Earth are at once influential and pessimistic.Eastward to Tartary is a fascinating exploration of places Kaplan has not written about in depth before: "Third World Europe" (Romania and Bulgaria), Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and the confusing conglomeration of countries and peoples in the Caucasus. Smart observations leap off almost every page. "In every Arab city I have ever visited, people were polite and honest, running after you to return a loose coin you have left at a soft-drinks stand," he writes. So why hasn't democracy taken hold in the Islamic world? "The very perfection of the Islamic belief system begot a naive absolutism that made the compromises of normal political life impossible." In an aside on ancient Assyria, Kaplan notes, "The theme is always the same: Highly militarized and centralized states and empires, so indomitable in one decade or generation, hack themselves to pieces or are themselves conquered in another." Then he reminds readers that Assyria once bestrode present-day Iraq and Syria--a "hauntingly appropriate" coincidence. And surprising facts abound: "Turkey represents the most stable governmental dynasty in world history, with the Turkish soldiery able to trace the roots of its power to the Roman emperors." Fans of Kaplan's previous books won't want to miss this one, and neither will new readers interested in this part of the world. --John J. Miller
Eastward to Tartary, Robert Kaplan's first book to focus on a single region since his bestselling Balkan Ghosts, introduces readers to an explosive and little-known part of the world destined to become a tinderbox of the future.
Kaplan takes us on a spellbinding journey into the heart of a volatile region, stretching from Hungary and Romania to the far shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. Through dramatic stories of unforgettable characters, Kaplan illuminates the tragic history of this unstable area that he describes as the new fault line between East and West. He ventures from Turkey, Syria, and Israel to the turbulent countries of the Caucasus, from the newly rich city of Baku to the deserts of Turkmenistan and the killing fields of Armenia. The result is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of our world in the decades to come.
Europe Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in International Relations and Diplomacy
War and Anti-War: Making Sense of Today's Global Chaosby Alvin Toffler, Heidi Adelaide Toffler
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1995-05-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops:
Running The World: the Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Powerby David J. Rothkopf
PublicAffairs; Published: 2005-05-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.65
Price in other shops:
The Twenty Years' Crisis 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relationsby E. H. Carr
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2001-12-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.37
Price in other shops:
Politics Among Nationsby Hans J Morgenthau, Kenneth W Thompson, David Clinton
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2005-04-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $67.27
The Prince (Bantam Classics)by Niccolo Machiavelli
Bantam Classics; Published: 1984-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.65
Price in other shops:
The Art of Warby Sun Tzu
Shambhala; Published: 2005-01-11; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
On War (Oxford World's Classics)by Carl von Clausewitz
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-03-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.33
Price in other shops:
All Quiet on the Western Frontby Erich Maria Remarque
Ballantine Books; Published: 1987-03-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.70
Price in other shops:
The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nationsby Paul Kennedy
Random House; Published: 2006-06-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.74
Price in other shops:
Colossus: The Price of America's Empireby Niall Ferguson
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2004-04-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethosby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2003-01-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.55
Price in other shops:
Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and the Peloponneseby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2005-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritreaby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2003-11-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops:
An Empire Wilderness: Travels into America's Futureby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 1999-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Groundby Robert D. Kaplan
Random House; Published: 2005-09-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold Warby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2001-02-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistanby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 2001-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Penguin Classics)by Rebecca West
Penguin Classics; Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.62
Price in other shops:
The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchyby Robert D. Kaplan
Vintage; Published: 1997-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through Historyby Robert D. Kaplan
Picador; Published: 2005-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: