The dispute over Nagorno Karabakh is a complicated issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. What de Waal has done here is present a neutral account of the war, without favouring either side, a rarity in conflicts like this. He presents clear facts for both sides, while stressing the humanitarian issues at stake, namely the hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides who are victims of the decades long conflict. Its a great read, and is quite detailed in explaining the origins of the conflict, possibly the best English-language source on the subject. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/125758.html

This is a really good book. Even if you don't have a professional interest in the Nagorno-Karabakh question (and let's face it, not a lot of people do), I think the studies of how a historical dispute over a very small patch of land destroyed two countries and helped to destroy the Soviet Union are of worldwide, human interest. The narrative of the conflict is interspersed with either interviews with today's survivors or historical reflections on how we got there.

The first few chapters are also particularly interesting because of the light they throw on Gorbachev, especially from research in the Politburo archives. In a week when we have all been debating the extent to which Ronald Reagan deserves any credit at all, I found this September 1988 exchange between the General Secretary and the hapless official in charge of preventing the conflict illustrative of the fantasy world in which the leadership of the other superpower lived:

[Gorbachev] rang and said:"... Tell them that if they don't stop this, we will expel them from the Party!" I said, "Mikhail Sergeyevich, they've already trampled on their party cards. The members of the committee are all the organisers of these demonstrations!... What Party methods are you talking about?"

Two years later, of course, the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed completely. This was one of the few warning signs. (Also the August 1990 coup attempt in Moscow had a direct effect on the outcome of the war.)

The interesting human story is what happens to people who used to live in a society that has been destroyed. The chapters about the massacre in Sumgait in early 1988, and about the children of Azerbaijan's 750,000 refugees, are particularly vivid. ( )