Crimea: A History

by Neil Kent

Overview

In 2016 Crimea shaped the headlines much as it did some 160 years ago, when the Crimean War pitted Britain, France and Turkey against Russia. Yet few books have been published on the history of the peninsula. For many readers, Crimea seems as remote today as it was when colonized by the ancient Greeks.

Neil Kent's book recounts the history of the Crimea over three millennia. A crossroads between Europe and Asia, ships sailed to and from Crimean ports, forming a bridge that carried merchandise and transmitted ideas and innovations.

Greeks, Scythians, Tartars, Russians, Armenians and Genoese are among those who settled the peninsula since antiquity, a demographic patchwork that reflects its geography. The religious beliefs of its inhabitants are almost as numerous: the Hebraicized beliefs of the Karaim Tartars, Islam, Judaisim, Russian and Greek Orthodoxy, as well as Roman Catholicism. This mosaic is also reflected in places of worship and the palaces which still adorn Crimea: imperial Romanov Massandra, the 'noble nest' of Prince Voronzov at Alupca or the Palace of Bakhchisaray built for the Tartar Khan. For some two centuries balmy Yalta and its environs were a veritable Black Sea Riviera, where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met at the end of the Second World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781911723356
Publisher:	Hurst
Publication date:	09/15/2024
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.54(w) x 8.49(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Neil Kent is Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. His many previous books include The Soul of the North: A Social, Architectural and Cultural History of the Nordic Countries, 1770-1940 and Helsinki: A Cultural and Literary History.

Table of Contents

Maps vi

Introduction 1

1 Crimea and the Classical World 9

2 The Middle Ages 19

3 The Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Hegemony 29

4 Ottoman Encroachment on Crimea and its Russian Annexation 49

5 The Consolidation of Crimea under Russian Control 59

6 The Crimean War 71

7 The Aftermath of the Crimean War 101

8 From the First World War to Soviet Power 117

9 The Second World War, Yalta, and the Post-War Settlement 131

10 Transferral of Crimea to Ukraine and its Place in the Post-Soviet Period 141

Epilogue: Crimea in the Twenty-First Century 153

Notes 163

Bibliography 173

Chronology 177

Index 185

Editorial Reviews

"Russia's seizure of Crimea was justified in Moscow as a rectification of an alleged "historic wrong". Why that was so, and why this ethnically-mixed peninsula became the cornerstone of Russia's political aspirations for over two centuries, is the fascinating story which Neil Kent tells with great verve in this erudite and gripping volume." — Jonathan Eyal, International Director, Royal United Services Institute

"Neil Kent has written a lively and informed volume that infuses the current debate with its missing historical context. A must read for anyone who wishes to probe beyond the headlines and learn more about this contested land's tragic past."— Brian Glyn Williams, author of The Crimean Tatars: From Soviet Genocide to Putin's Conquest

"Neil Kent has produced a fascinating account of the history of Crimea. He takes readers through the history of the peninsula, from Ancient Greek colonies and Ottoman palaces resting on the slopes of the magnificent bays of the Black Sea to such cosmopolitan cities as Sevastopol and Feodosia, in and around which so many deadly battles were fought by Russia, the Ottoman Empire and its Western European allies during the Crimean War. His conclusions are thought-provoking and at times even controversial, and will encourage lively debate on many aspects of Crimean history, ancient and modern." — Vsevolod Samokhvalov, Fellow of the Cambridge Security Initiative, University of Cambridge

"This is a much-needed and well-written book focusing on the past and present of a highly important region of Europe. The author fits the complex history of Crimea into a well-woven narrative, merging historical developments with highly interesting details. Crimea is highly recommended to those interested in the context of the drama playing out between Russia and Ukraine today." — Vicken Cheterian, author of Open Wounds: Armenians, Turks and a Century of Genocide

From the Publisher