The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus

from DinadansFriend

A look at the conflict of the Russian Empire and the small, and mostly Islamic states of the Caucasus Mountains. This was the war that Tolstoy served in. The process was in nature like the clearing of the plains by the USA in the same period. But as it was the Middle East things got complex. The ...

from kcshankd

I read this after reading a LA Times essay on this book's influence on Frank Herbert's Dune. Many of the terms and some themes borrowed are readily apparent. The author writes in a now dated, 'grand' style of narrative history. Think of smoke drifting up chimneys or the dust rising from a thunder...

from setnahkt

A reprint of the 1960 original with a new introduction. When the book was written, the Caucasus had been at “peace” for 100 years, first under the firm hand of the Tsar and then under the even firmer hand of the Soviet Union. The events of the Murid Wars were forgotten by all but specialist histo...