Azerbaijan Diary: A Rogue Reporter's Adventures in an Oil-rich, War-torn, Post-Soviet Republic

by Thomas Goltz

Overview

In its first years as an independent state, Azerbaijan was a prime example of post-Soviet chaos - beset by coups and civil strife and astride an ethnic, political and religious divide. Author Goltz was detoured in Baku in mid-1991 and decided to stay, this diary is the record of his experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765602435
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/28/1998
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas Goltz

Table of Contents

Preface, Acknowledgments and Special Thanks, Prologue, 1. Getting There Fair and Square, 2. A Distant Coup, 3. Friday Evening on Freedom Square, 4. Karabakh: The Black Garden, 5. Home Sweet Baku, 6. A Reborn Republic, 7. Xodjali, 8. Slithering in the Swamp, 9. Of Militias and Mamed the Mule, 10. A Diversion Through the Islamic Republic of Iran, 11. Riding the Roller Coaster, 12. Coup Redux, 13. From Ballots to Bullets, 14. An Army Stumbles Forward, 15. Alla Turca, 16. Of War-and Oil, 17. Corruption in the Ranks, 18. Rumblings of Dissent, 19. The Snow Job, 20. Kelbajar, 21. The Lull Before the Storm, 22. The Crowbar-Or Heydar Comes Home, 23. Meanwhile, Back at the Front..., 24. Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan..., 25. Scars on the Soul, Epilogue, Index

Editorial Reviews

Goltz's account of six years as a freelance journalist in a volatile region where oil men, spies, Islamic militants, mercenaries and corrupt politicians jockey for power reads like a combination of John le Carre and Hunter S. Thompson.

New York Times Book Review

Goltz himself suggests that nonspecialist readers ignore the funny names and approach his tale as a pure adventure story from a faraway land. Take his advice and read this book. -- Brill's Content

Debra Goldman

Azerbaijan is surely among the most complex of Soviet successor states, save Russia itself. Goltz enjoys the distinction of being probably the only Western correspondent whose personal courage and linguistic skill made possible this unique witness to the country's first years of independence. He takes us from his "illegal" entry during the last phase of Soviet rule through accession of former KGB chief and Azeri President Heydar Aliyev. As sheer adventure, the account stands by itself as compelling reading, but the scholarly minded will benefit as Goltz moves from the poverty of postindependence Baku through the chaotic war involving Armenia and the "Black Garden" of Nagorno-Karabakh. Excursions to Tashkent, Teheran, and Grozny add perspective with emerging Turkish-Iranian rivalry for influence. But the book's crowning feature is the author's interviews with the republic's three presidents and the reemergence of the opposition "Popular Front" against Aliyev. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.Zachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ. Erie

Library Journal

The author, a journalist who covered the region in the early 1990s, relates the events that he saw in a style he refers to as "history as contact journalism." He covers the coups, the civil uprisings, the lost Karabakh war of secession, the occupation of part of Azerbaijan by Armenian troops, and the internal ethnic, religious, and political struggles that have plagued the country since independence. No references. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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