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The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus, by Lesley Blanch
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PHILIP MARSDEN: Like Tolstoy’s, Lesley Blanch’s sense of history is ultimately convincing not because of any sweeping theses, but because of its particularities, the quirks of individuals and their personal narratives, their deluded ambitions, their vanities and passions. THE GUARDIAN: Crammed with truly fabulous stories of fighting and love and violent death . . . this profound and exhilarating book turns the struggle of the people of the Caucasus to remain independent of Russia into a universal saga . . . it is no wonder Shamyl had such a powerful influence on Tolstoy and Pushkin. Biography of supreme Muslim chieftain and military leader, Imam Shamyl, the ‘Lion of Daghestan’ fighting in the eastern Caucasus from 1834-59, by the late author and distinguished traveller, Lesley Blanch, MBE. It took six years to complete, with research done in Russia and the Caucasus, including tracing his descendants in Turkey and Egypt. Also a historical narrative, there are beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus — a region of supreme natural beauty and mighty mountain ranges — and the campaigns in which Lermontov and Tolstoy participated. During the Caucasian Wars of Independence, the warring mountain tribes of Daghestan and Chechnya united under the charismatic leadership of Imam Shamyl — strengthened only by the desire for an independent Caucasus and their religious faith. For years Shamyl defied his enemy, the Tsar, who had taken his eldest son as a hostage to St Petersburg. Shamyl captured in turn two Georgian princesses (from the Tzarina’s entourage), a French governess, and the children, and kept them in his harem until they could be exchanged for his son. Lesley Blanch’s epic account of the heroic and bloody struggles, and her vivid portrayal of the strange and magnetic rebel Imam who became a legend, is particularly relevant in light of the continuing conflict in Chechnya. The great leader and his fiercely proud warriors haunt the Russian psyche to this day. BRIAN ALDISS A book as thick with flavour as roast wild boar, tusks and all. One of the most nutritious books I have ever read
- Sales Rank: #478862 in Books
- Published on: 2015-01-19
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.21" h x 1.10" w x 6.14" l, 1.50 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 488 pages
Review
""I can imagine no better introduction to modern Russia.""--New York Times Book Review
""A masterly account of Chechnya's struggle against 19th-century Tsarist Russia, ominously relevant to today's conflict. [Blanch's] portrait of Shamyl, the Chechen leader-prophet, was widely admired and Blanch is still consulted by historians.""--The Sunday Times (London)
""This reissue ... is to be warmly applauded. The result of four years of research and local travel, this is a uniquely original and fresh introduction to a forgotten world and in particular to that of the most important colonial war of the 19th Century.""--Lawrence Kelly
About the Author
A scholarly romantic, Lesley Blanch (1904-2007) influenced and inspired generations of writers, readers and critics. She was a distinguished writer, artist, drama critic and features editor of British Vogue during World War II. Blanch was well ahead of her time and prescient in the way she attempted to bridge West and East − especially the West and Islam. In an interview with Shusha Guppy, she revealed that ‘General de Gaulle wrote me a lovely letter about The Sabres of Paradise, and I have heard that he said it was remarkable that a woman should be able to understand the battles so well and describe them so vividly.’ The author of twelve books, including The Wilder Shores of Love, Journey into the Mind's Eye, Pierre Loti and one novel, The Nine Tiger Man, she died in 2007. Her memoirs On the Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life are published by Virago. To learn more about Lesley, visit her website at www.lesleyblanch.com
Most helpful customer reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
good read indeed, but full of mistakes.
By Kakha
Have to say, it reads fast and pleasant. You will not regret getting this book if you decide to do so. I withheld two stars because book claims to be historical, while there are quite a few inaccuracies.
I respect the admiration author has for Caucasian mountaineers (being descendent of such it is especially pleasant), but she definitely overromanticizes her hero(s). Shamyl is great enough figure and Chechens are brave enough people to be in need of overglorification.
Book tells a lot of legends and passes them as facts. Some most naïve, even silly XIX c stereotypes are restated without questioning - i.e. Khevsurs being descendents of Crusaders who passed through Caucasus in their due time!!! This lame assumption is based on the fact of cross being important symbol among Khevsurs (who in fact are Georgian mountaineers, just like Svans (Suanetians) who Blanch "mistakes" for Muslim North Caucasians (in fact they are Christian). Khevsur cross is pre-Christian symbol (sufficient archeological evidence for anyone who cares to check).
Blanch also retells number of legends told by Alexander Dumas in his "Adventures in the Caucasus" (without referring to the source!) And names some of those legends (I remember two: Shete, child-tongue cutter; and a father who cut up his son's dead body into 70 pieces and sent to his relatives as a request for revenge...) as "Chechen stories", while Dumas tells them as Tushetian ones (another Georgian Christian tribe).
Either she is mistaken, or she purposefully mislocates the origin of characters in order to draw a portrait of Chechens the way she wants. It is OK to be mistaken and I hope it is just a mistake, because I really don't like when writer misleads the reader...
There is not much research done and there are very few books written about Caucasian history in any language. Despite what I said above, this one is probably the best among English books I have come across. So, I recommend it to everyone, especially if you are not a history buff, but a sucker for good romantic story about bravery and glory and freedom, etc. We may say, story is "based on true story". Enjoy it!
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Lion of Dhagestan
By MikeG
The reviews I've read so far fail to emphasize that this book, while it certainly covers much of the history of the Caucuses in the latter half of the 19th century, is in no small part a biography of Imam Shamyl, "The Lion of Dhagestan", and his role as the leader of what was referred to as "The Mureed Wars". Shamyl was a legendary, charismatic leader who, through the power of his Islamic faith, and with the added dimension of being son-in-law of one of the great Shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Sufi order (Jamaluddin Ghumuqi), united the various tribes and peoples of this region to fight off the great Russian Bear for nearly 25 years. It is an epic tale of heroism and tragedy on a personal and cultural level, and will grip the reader as they follow the exploits and the battles that are still to this day legendary in the Caucuses.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Chechens vs. Russians Round 1
By Bob Newman
In the nineteenth century the Russian Empire was expanding east and south. It annexed all of Georgia between 1801 and 1804, but in between Russia and its new acquisition lay the Caucasus Mountains, a row of giant peaks lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian. Among these peaks lived numerous peoples speaking a myriad languages, mostly but not all, Muslim. They never agreed to be part of the Tsarist imperium, but their raids and depredations gave the Russians no peace. The Tsar decided that they must be conquered. This was easier said than done. It is estimated that over the next half century, the Russians lost half a million men to disease and in the endless battles with the guerrilla-style Caucasian fighters who, disunited at first, later united under a single, Islamic flag---the flag of a formidable individual named Shamyl. Shamyl, known in Europe as `the Lion of Daghestan', surrendered at last in 1859 and finished his days under house arrest in Kaluga, Russia. [He actually died on the haj in Arabia.] The Caucasians were subdued, but not forever. In World War II, some of them welcomed the Germans as liberators and were exiled en masse afterwards to the barren wastes of Central Asia. After the end of the Soviet Union, Caucasians again rose up, resulting in two more wars between Russia and tiny Chechnya. The struggle continues in the region, if at a lower level. Even the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013 had its roots in this endless struggle against domination.
Blanch picked a topic not often discussed in the West. Growing up, we never heard of Chechens, Daghestan, Cherkess, or Kabards. Shamyl was totally unknown, as was his effort to unite all the Caucasian peoples as Murids (fighters) under his flag.. If you'd like to read about it, you might try this book, but I'll give you a warning. This is Romantic History with capitalization intended. Can this writer ever mention a market without lovingly speaking of spices and silks ? (Whatever happened to buckets and nails ?) Can she avoid detailing the beauty of female costume in the Russian court, the colorful, dashing uniforms, the malachite columns in some palaces, the troves of pearls, emeralds, and amethysts ? Not once, but every time. Do you like sentences that speak of "...the dark force of Shamyl who broods behind everything, a mysterious and satanic majesty enthroned among his mountain peaks." ? What about "...that densely dark glossy hair of the Asiatics, which seems plumage rather than hair..."? Talk about exoticizing "the Other" !! Then there is Shamyl, so many times, "his pale face inscrutable, framed in its dark beard, scarlet with henna, vivid against his sombre black bourka, and huge chieftain's turban. His slit-eyes still glittered as he surveyed his threatened mountain kingdom." Oi gavult ! An Armenian appears...."he possessed the astuteness of all his race." If this sort of lush verbiage and stereotype is your bag, you're going to love this book. I felt it should have been better-edited, her super-romantic tendencies reined in, and more attention paid to standard spelling of names, and getting her facts straight. Many phrases and sentences are repeated. But, you know, it's an interesting subject.
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