Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea
 A history of the countries bordering the Black Sea told through the stories of the people who live there.
 
Fringing the Black Sea is a diverse array of countries, some centuries old and others emerging only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jens Mühling travels through this region, telling the stories of the people he meets along the way in order to paint a picture of the mix of cultures found here and to understand the present against a history stretching back to the arrival of Ancient Greek settlers and beyond.

A fluent Russian speaker with a knack for gaining the trust of those he meets, Mühling brings together a cast of characters as diverse as the stories he hears, all of whom are willing to tell him their complex, contradictory, and often fantastical tales full of grief and legend. He meets descendants of the so-called Pontic Greeks, whom Stalin deported to Central Asia and who have now returned; Circassians who fled to Syria a century ago and whose great-great-grandchildren have returned to Abkhazia; and members of ethnic minorities like the Georgian Mingrelians or Bulgarian Muslims, expelled to Turkey in the summer of 1989. Mühling captures the region’s uneasy alliance of tradition and modernity and the diverse humanity of those who live there.
 
"1140338124"
Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea
 A history of the countries bordering the Black Sea told through the stories of the people who live there.
 
Fringing the Black Sea is a diverse array of countries, some centuries old and others emerging only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jens Mühling travels through this region, telling the stories of the people he meets along the way in order to paint a picture of the mix of cultures found here and to understand the present against a history stretching back to the arrival of Ancient Greek settlers and beyond.

A fluent Russian speaker with a knack for gaining the trust of those he meets, Mühling brings together a cast of characters as diverse as the stories he hears, all of whom are willing to tell him their complex, contradictory, and often fantastical tales full of grief and legend. He meets descendants of the so-called Pontic Greeks, whom Stalin deported to Central Asia and who have now returned; Circassians who fled to Syria a century ago and whose great-great-grandchildren have returned to Abkhazia; and members of ethnic minorities like the Georgian Mingrelians or Bulgarian Muslims, expelled to Turkey in the summer of 1989. Mühling captures the region’s uneasy alliance of tradition and modernity and the diverse humanity of those who live there.
 
29.95 In Stock
Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea

Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea

Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea

Troubled Water: A Journey Around the Black Sea

Hardcover

$29.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

 A history of the countries bordering the Black Sea told through the stories of the people who live there.
 
Fringing the Black Sea is a diverse array of countries, some centuries old and others emerging only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jens Mühling travels through this region, telling the stories of the people he meets along the way in order to paint a picture of the mix of cultures found here and to understand the present against a history stretching back to the arrival of Ancient Greek settlers and beyond.

A fluent Russian speaker with a knack for gaining the trust of those he meets, Mühling brings together a cast of characters as diverse as the stories he hears, all of whom are willing to tell him their complex, contradictory, and often fantastical tales full of grief and legend. He meets descendants of the so-called Pontic Greeks, whom Stalin deported to Central Asia and who have now returned; Circassians who fled to Syria a century ago and whose great-great-grandchildren have returned to Abkhazia; and members of ethnic minorities like the Georgian Mingrelians or Bulgarian Muslims, expelled to Turkey in the summer of 1989. Mühling captures the region’s uneasy alliance of tradition and modernity and the diverse humanity of those who live there.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781913368265
Publisher: Haus Publishing
Publication date: 04/04/2022
Series: Armchair Traveller
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Jens Mühling is the author of the travelogue A Journey into Russia and of award-winning features and essays on Eastern Europe. Simon Pare is a translator from French and German living near Zurich.
 

Table of Contents

The Flood 1
Prologue

Russia 21
Chornoye more
The beginnings of a bridge • Hotel Fortuna •
Pasha the Turk • Greek wine • Horseless Cossacks •
A Black Sea lexicon, entry no. 1: Rapana venosa •
A Caucasian without a moustache

Georgia 77
Shavi zghva
The thieves of Poti • A Black Sea lexicon, entry no. 2:
Engraulis encrasilocus • Swimming trees

Abkhazia 101
Amshyn Eikwa
A long story • The monkeys of Sukhum •
The return of the Circassians

Turkey 129
Karadeniz
Firtina the falcon • An icon falls from the sky •
The love story of Gabi and Yusuf • Amazon island •
Atatu¨rk’s eyes • In the wake of the Argo •
A Black Sea lexicon, entry no. 3: Bosporus

Bulgaria 177
Cherno more
The renamed • Frogmen • The Sozopol vampire •
A Black Sea lexicon, entry no. 4: Hydrogen sulphide

Romania 205
Marea Neagra?
The wrong horse • Ovid’s last metamorphosis •
The Black Danube

Ukraine 233
Chorne more
The spring at Kyrnychky • A coincidence in Odessa •
Antelopes on the steppe • A Black Sea lexicon,
entry no. 5: Mnemiopsis leidyi

Crimea 263
Qara deñiz
Tracks in the snow • Today we, tomorrow you •
The love story of Alla and Vladimir • The end of a bridge

The Ark 291
Epilogue

Acknowledgements 301

Bibliography 303

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews