The First Toast is to Peace

I sat down to read this book today and my love for travel and adventure was piqued. The author travels through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and for someone who comes from the African continent, I loved his descriptions of the terrain and the people he encountered. I especially loved chapter eight in this book where a bit of culture seems to involve swords and couldn't help laughing at how quirky he's outlook was. With history there's also the stories that we never hear or never talk about like the Armenian genocide of which I only came across in this book and had to look it up to learn more about it.
If you love travel, culture, good writing and seek to read a travel diary, then this book is right up your alley. Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

I was recently looking at the teams competing in the recent 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup featuring among other categories states that are not internationally recognised which was staged earlier this summer in and around London and saw that one of the teams competing was called Abkhazia. I must admit that I was at a loss to know where this place might be and what the circumstances were that had led to it's present unrecognised status. Fortunately this gap in my knowledge and much more has been now filled in after reading Stephen Powell's wonderfully descriptive but at the same informative account of his journeys through the three South Caucasus countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

This is much more than a travel journey as the author explains the complex history of the region with it's ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union it has been subject to various territorial disputes leading to armed conflicts between and within the South Caucasus states and Stephen presents an analysis of the underlying causes surrounding this. However this is also a travel journal and we read of Stephen's travel by foot, bus, train, taxi and even on horse back across this land. There are wonderful descriptions of the rugged mountainous terrain and the people that he meets along the way and we gain a taste of the culture and the prevailing political attitudes.

It is clear that Stephen has developed a deep love for Georgia and a profound appreciation of how the Armenian Genocide remains deeply interwoven in that nation's psyche. Towards Azerbaijan his attitude is less favourable being influenced by the high level of corruption and censorship together with the need to obtain a rather expensively priced visa to enter it. Despite this it is Azerbaijan which is rich in oil and natural gas and attracts much inward investment that seems to have the most secure future of the three. Of course the all pervading influence of Russia is never far away and the book ends with Stephen taking a historical perspective and speculating how Russia will influence, probably in a detrimental way the future of the region.

A really quite unexpectedly insightful book that is complimented by some fine maps and drawings. There were a few moments when reading this that I was reminded of Patrick Leigh Fermor which is testament to the quality of this book. I would certainly recommend this to all lovers of travel, history and indeed current affairs.

Thank you to NetGally, the author and This book was very interesting. It had a lot of information about the areas. I would recommend this book.

I downloaded this book within a fortnight of arriving back home from Armenia. I have travelled to practically all of the places the author mentions in Georgia (beyond Batumi itself and the far NE – oh, and I have never "walked" up the 60 degree slope at David Goreji he mentions). So you can tell instantly this would have to be a howler not to really strike home. And it isn't. From finding the modern buildings in Tiblisi, Georgia, to be incongruous, to sharing an outdoor shower (ie a bucket and some string) with a pig, all of the Caucasus are here. His style isn't particularly showy or overly erudite, but boy he can bring home subjects like the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks, and I really was back with my guide in Gori at the museum dedicated to Stalin with his trip, even if I can't remember the prison cell and other slightly anti-Stalin factors he picked up on.

To knock the book back would be churlish, but you do see a progression from blog-styled reportage to longer-form considerations by the end; you do lack a prime writer's eye on things (one certain monastery is deserving of a lot more than the passing description herein, I was to find); and more importantly, if the Caucasus is to be united in friendship as the author hopes you'd have to include a heck of a lot more Azerbaijan than you find in these pages. But dammit, they side with the murdering Turks – which is not to be racist but to prove how easy it is to come back from this region with opinions, a certain take and slant on its history, and a great love of the place. All that was within these covers, and I really liked this book a lot. Gaumarjos!

I don’t read much non-fiction, and haven’t read many travel memoirs, but now that I am working in Travel Medicine, feel that I should, especially to learn about the parts of the world I haven’t visited myself. We are starting to see more intrepid travellers visiting Central Asia, but even so, the Southern Caucasus is not a common destination. This account of a retired Welsh journalist’s exploration of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2015-2016 was an enjoyable introduction to a part of the world that I really don’t know enough about.

Around the time of the 2011 rugby World Cup in New Zealand , I remember watching coverage of passionate Georgian supporters and googling the country, and being amazed at how beautiful it looked, and how much history it had. Georgia is the author’s first destination, and he describes both the cities and his hiking expeditions with great affection. He then visits Azerbaijan, which sounded like harder work, and finally Armenia, covering a lot more of the tragic history and geo-politics. I confess I had never heard of the 1915 genocide, where at least 600 000 Armenians were murdered in Turkey. He explains that it is still not recognised as official genocide by several countries, and that this is one of the reasons that Turkey has not been accepted into the EU.
Finally he travels to Abkhazia, a generally unrecognised state within Georgia that is a popular destination for Russian tourists but has hardly any Western visitors.

I liked the balance here of physical descriptions of places, encounters with local people, brief summaries of the history of each place, mouthwatering accounts of the food and wine of the region, and interviews with both native academics and passionate newcomers. There are towns that are dying, and others that are thriving, and Powell writes about both with compassion and optimism. There are some funny anecdotes, but he doesn’t let his own personality take over the narrative. I read this on the Kindle for iPad app, which meant I could easily see photos on Google images, and maps when I got lost. It all looks pretty stunning. It sounds like it is certainly not an easy holiday destination if you don’t speak Russian, but Georgia at least is on my travel bucket list now.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read this whilst travelling in the Caucasus and it captures the beauty and openness of the region perfectly. I fell in love with these countries (Georgia and Armenia most specifically) and this book further cemented that love. I look forward to buying a physical copy so I can revisit these countries time and time again.