Advance praise for Twenty-Five Years in The Caucasus: 1842-1867

“It is a great pleasure to welcome this extensively illustrated and helpfully annotated English-language edition of Arnold Zisserman’s Twenty-Five Years in the Caucasus: 1842-1867 -- a truly important and interesting book on a period shot through with drama and action.” – Vazha Kiknadze, Director, Institute of History and Ethnology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

“. . . A fleet rendering of Zisserman’s Russian into a wonderfully accessible language, alongside a range of additions not found in the original, including over a 125 period illustrations, especially valuable maps, appendixes, and extensive notes for scholars as well as first-time readers of Caucasus worlds alike.” – Bruce Grant, Professor of Anthropology, New York University

“Zisserman leads us on an amazing journey through the history and culture of Georgia of the mid-1800s – a journey now accompanied by excellent maps and pictures and with informative notes. A must-read for everyone who wants to learn about the exciting world of the Caucasus, with its never-restful, ever-colorful Georgians, Dagestanis, Chechnyans, Russians and others.” – Shorena Kurtskidze, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of California at Berkeley.

“A fascinating and wonderfully readable memoir complemented by con-temporary photographs, illustrations, maps, and a time-line and notes. Zisserman’s eye for detail gives us extraordinary insights into the lives not only of Russians from Viceroy Vorontsov down to lowly lieutenants on the Lezgin Line but also of provincial Georgian nobles, Armenian merchants and Caucasia’s toiling clerks and peasants. In all, a rich and entertaining addition to the few sources on life in mid-19th century Caucasia.” – Stephen F. Jones, Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies, Mount Holyoke College.

“Nineteenth-century Russian officials left numerous accounts of the Caucasus – works that are a rich mine of a local ethnography, geography, and history. Yet, most of these works are accessible only in Russian. The present translation of Arnold Zisserman’s Memoirs is a welcome change, and one hopes an auspicious beginning.” – Michael Khodarkovsky, Professor of History, Loyola University Chicago.

“Full of insights into the history, culture, politics and ethnography of the Caucasus; in addition to Georgians and Russians, Zisserman writes on Khevsurs, Lezgins, Avars and Dagestanis, Chechens, Kists, Azeris and Tartars and on princes, peasants, soldiers and administrators. Inna Kiziria as translator and Peter Skinner as editor have produced an important and rewarding volume.”– Tony Anderson, President, British Georgian Society.