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Georgia Diary: A Chronicle of War and Political Chaos in the Post-Soviet Caucasus
First Published in 2015. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &; Francis, an informa company.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2006
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About the author
Thomas Goltz
15 books14 followersThomas Goltz (October 11, 1954 – July 29, 2023) was an American author and journalist best known for his accounts of conflict in the Caucasus region during the 1990s.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 31, 2008
This is a must-read for anyone interested in one of the most confusing civil wars to follow the break-up of the Soviet Union. Written by a journalist who was there at the time, trying to make sense of it. There have been a lot of inaccuracies and half-truths (read, lies) written about what was going on during this civil war, and Thomas Goltz does a good job of clearing it up for the reader. The results of this civil war continue to have consequences today, in what is one of the most strategically important countries to break away from the former USSR.
October 22, 2024
Georgia Diary is one of the definitive English-language works on modern Georgian history and seemed like a natural choice as travel reading for a holiday to Georgia (indeed, I actually walked past a bookshop in Tbilisi which had it front and centre of its window display). I would hesitate, however, to recommend this book to the average casual visitor interested in a general overview of Georgia and its recent history. Georgia Diary is first and foremost a war correspondent's memoir and it has all the strengths and weaknesses of a book of its genre. Its main focus is on Goltz's experiences reporting on the interethnic conflict that has rocked the country since the early 90s (especially in the black sea coastal region of Abkhazia). His experiences covering the siege of Sukhumi and the mass exodus of tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians from their home make for compelling and disturbing reading, but the general focus on violent conflict is frustratingly narrow and perpetuates Western narratives that tend to depict the peoples from these regions as inherently backward and warlike.
For me, the most fundamental failure of the book is to give the reader a sense of who the Georgians Goltz meets really are. Most of the locals he describes come across as politically jaded, cynical and fractious- but we never find out what made them this way or whether they found meaning in their lives through other means. From my brief impressions of travelling around Georgia, family seems to be an extremely important part of Georgian culture but Goltz never seems to probe these more human aspects of everyday life, even in war conditions. Instead, Goltz often fixates on his brief and largely unrevealing encounters with Georgia's leaders- Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze and Mikheil Saakashvili.
That said, some of the passages of Georgia Diary will definitely stay with me. The moment where a family invite him to come drink wine with them in their house while the frontline passes through the street outside is hugely evocative. Goltz's description of his desperate attempts to escape from Sukhumi captures, if only through the eyes of a relatively privileged Western observer, just how horrifying, wretched and ultimately pointless these conflicts were.
Goltz has strong but incisive views on what has happened in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I particularly appreciated his analysis of the role of diaspora networks in amplifying nationalist fervour in Georgia's various ethnic enclaves. He rages at the way that political and criminal elites on all sides have instrumentally used nationalism to exploit the poor desperate masses. While Russia has evidently played a major destabilising role in Georgian politics, the US, Europe and the Western NGO community (most notably George Soros' Open Society Foundation which is widely held to have funded the Rose Revolution in 2003) have also sought to influence local politics for their own ends.
Georgians claim their homeland was given to them by God after they missed out on the initial distribution of land to the peoples of the world following a night of overexuberant drinking. Having nothing else left to offer them, God gave the Georgians the most beautiful and fertile land he had been keeping for himself. This mythical good fortune, however, is now a poisoned chalice. In an era of increasingly defined national borders and ethnic identifies, every group now wants its claim to this land exclusively recognised. It may require another divine intervention to rescue Georgia from self-destruction.
For me, the most fundamental failure of the book is to give the reader a sense of who the Georgians Goltz meets really are. Most of the locals he describes come across as politically jaded, cynical and fractious- but we never find out what made them this way or whether they found meaning in their lives through other means. From my brief impressions of travelling around Georgia, family seems to be an extremely important part of Georgian culture but Goltz never seems to probe these more human aspects of everyday life, even in war conditions. Instead, Goltz often fixates on his brief and largely unrevealing encounters with Georgia's leaders- Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze and Mikheil Saakashvili.
That said, some of the passages of Georgia Diary will definitely stay with me. The moment where a family invite him to come drink wine with them in their house while the frontline passes through the street outside is hugely evocative. Goltz's description of his desperate attempts to escape from Sukhumi captures, if only through the eyes of a relatively privileged Western observer, just how horrifying, wretched and ultimately pointless these conflicts were.
Goltz has strong but incisive views on what has happened in Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I particularly appreciated his analysis of the role of diaspora networks in amplifying nationalist fervour in Georgia's various ethnic enclaves. He rages at the way that political and criminal elites on all sides have instrumentally used nationalism to exploit the poor desperate masses. While Russia has evidently played a major destabilising role in Georgian politics, the US, Europe and the Western NGO community (most notably George Soros' Open Society Foundation which is widely held to have funded the Rose Revolution in 2003) have also sought to influence local politics for their own ends.
Georgians claim their homeland was given to them by God after they missed out on the initial distribution of land to the peoples of the world following a night of overexuberant drinking. Having nothing else left to offer them, God gave the Georgians the most beautiful and fertile land he had been keeping for himself. This mythical good fortune, however, is now a poisoned chalice. In an era of increasingly defined national borders and ethnic identifies, every group now wants its claim to this land exclusively recognised. It may require another divine intervention to rescue Georgia from self-destruction.
December 8, 2015
თუ ვინმეს ჯერ კიდევ არ წაგიკითხავთ ტომას გოლცის ეს წიგნი, მე გირჩევთ, აუცილებლად წაიკითხეთ. ეს არის წიგნი მათთვის, ვისაც აინტერესებს რეალურად რა ხდებოდა საქართველოში 90-იანი წლების დასაწყისში, როგორ მოვიდა და დაემხო ზვიადი, როგორ მოვიდა ხელისუფლებაში შევარდნაძე, როგორ დავკარგეთ აფხაზეთი. ეს ყველაფერი მოთხრობილია პირველ პირში ავტორის, უშუალო თვითმხილველის მიერ.
პირადად მე დამატებითი არგუმენტი მქონდა ეს წიგნი განსაკუთრებით მომწონებოდა: მე და ბატონ ტომასს აღმოგვაჩნდა უამრავი საერთო მეგობარი თუ ნაცნობი, რომელთა შესახებაც უხვად საუბრობს. რამდენიმე მონაკვეთში ამოვიცანი ჩემი ნაცნობ-მეგობრები, რომელთა სახელებსაც სპეციალურად არ ასახელებს, მაგრამ ჩვენ, ვინც ასევე ვიყავით ჩართულები საქვეყნო საქმეებში და გვქონდა შეხება პირველ პირებთან, ადვილად ვცნობთ ვინ ვინაა დამალული უსახელო პერსონაჟების უკან. ამიტომაც ეს წიგნი უფრო ახლოს მოვიდა ჩემამდე, უფრო მეტად ძვირფასი გახდა, უფრო მეტად გასაგები და ადვილად აღსაქემელი.
თუ ჩემი აზრი გაინტერესებთ, აუცილებლად წაიკითხეთ და წააკითხეთ თქვენს მეგობრებს, ახლობლებს, ოჯახის წევრებს..
პირადად მე დამატებითი არგუმენტი მქონდა ეს წიგნი განსაკუთრებით მომწონებოდა: მე და ბატონ ტომასს აღმოგვაჩნდა უამრავი საერთო მეგობარი თუ ნაცნობი, რომელთა შესახებაც უხვად საუბრობს. რამდენიმე მონაკვეთში ამოვიცანი ჩემი ნაცნობ-მეგობრები, რომელთა სახელებსაც სპეციალურად არ ასახელებს, მაგრამ ჩვენ, ვინც ასევე ვიყავით ჩართულები საქვეყნო საქმეებში და გვქონდა შეხება პირველ პირებთან, ადვილად ვცნობთ ვინ ვინაა დამალული უსახელო პერსონაჟების უკან. ამიტომაც ეს წიგნი უფრო ახლოს მოვიდა ჩემამდე, უფრო მეტად ძვირფასი გახდა, უფრო მეტად გასაგები და ადვილად აღსაქემელი.
თუ ჩემი აზრი გაინტერესებთ, აუცილებლად წაიკითხეთ და წააკითხეთ თქვენს მეგობრებს, ახლობლებს, ოჯახის წევრებს..
April 8, 2015
My review is not unbiased as I am Thomas' brother. However, I strongly recommend reading his 3 "diaries" if you have an interest in post-Soviet Central Asia!
October 15, 2012
Phenomenal. Goltz at his best. Better than Chechnya Diary, on par with Azerbaijan Diary. A must read for anyone with even a passing interest Caucasus. The book largely predates the Rose Revolution, a small mention is given to it at the end. I would love to read a followup by Goltz post Georgia-Russian war of 2008.
January 16, 2020
Very interesting, at times a bit repetitive. Felt like it wasn't written linearly nor checked for if things got said/explained again. But great on the ground insight into early post-Soviet Georgia
June 15, 2024
The Republic of Georgia was plagued by internal conflicts, namely the Abchazia and South Ossetia Wars, upon independence from the USSR in the nineties. Initially, it seemed these regions merely wanted independence from Georgia. Contrarily, "Georgia Diary" demonstrates that these conflicts are so complex and confounding as to be worthy of their own Shakespearean drama, with the shifting allegiances, internecine ambitions, and theatrical deaths. Goltz is a truly gifted writer and creates order in the chaos that constitutes Georgia's modern history. Furthermore, the text gives an authentic insight into the life of a war correspondent. Spoiler alert: it is anything but glamorous. Lastly, Goltz had a wonderful sense of humour. Frequently, I laughed out loud.
November 4, 2024
Goltz worked a reporter in the Caucasus (mainly based in Baku) in the early 1990s and was on the ground for the 1991-92 Georgian Civil War and the 1992-93 Abkhazian War. The stories in this book cover his experiences, as well as his return in the early 2000s and 2008 for the Russo-Georgian War. His writing is quite compelling and engaging, and it really keeps one interested in the subject as he is either darting artillery in Sukhumi (Sukhum/Sokhumi) or working to interview various Georgian presidents (Gamsakhurdia, Shevardnadze, Saakashvili), and talking to fellow reporters and Westerners involved in the country. An excellent book on the era that strives to really show how it was at the time.
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April 30, 2021I read this book many years ago and reread it on moving to Georgia at the end of last year. It's very insightful. Georgia is unrecognisable from that state of chaos described in the book. Thomas Goltz gets right in amongst the people who matter. He does his best to describe the motivations, political and personal, behind the men (and it is mostly men) leading the events. The war in Abkhazia is one such event from which he was lucky to escape alive. He had friends and contacts on both sides of the divide so one wondered how he managed this balancing act. A fascinating read.
January 31, 2023
His observations of the early 1990s of Georgia, through accurate including some less known facts, it lacks depth and is very limited, considering so much happened to the country so suddenly, and even more disappointing, it is deeply cynical. He's basically retelling the stories someone might have heard from a random taxi driver or in the streets generally.
February 27, 2024
A personal journey through Georgia, Sakartvelo, as it is known in the Republic, by a journalist who dances with death. The author's details of the region and conflicts opens the eyes of Americans who know so little of this region. After reading, I sought to Google the author, only to find he passed July 28, 2023. Gamarjous, Tomas!
February 28, 2022
"დგება დრო პატარა ქვექნების ცხოვრებაში, როცა თავის დახრას ბრძოლა სჯობს"(ნოდარ ნათაძის სიტყვეს იხსენებს გოლცი) ჩემი აზრით ბრძოლა ყოველთვის სჯობს! როგორც აკაკი იტყოდა" სჯობს მონობაში გადიდკაცებულს თავისუფლების ძებნაში მკვდარი!"
August 14, 2025
I was curious to read this book, as I was born in 1993 in Georgia, a country that has endured dark times of anarchy and chaos. While it was interesting to see Goltz sharing his personal experiences, I believe he fails to grasp the essence of the Georgian people - their will to fight for freedom and independence despite ongoing repression, struggle, and the rule of various superpower forces throughout history, whether they were the Persians, Ottomans, Imperialist Russians, or Soviet Russians. The author seems to provide an insufficient and incomplete perspective on Georgian identity and its fight for independence and cultural preservation.
On several occasions, Goltz notes the presence of many different ethnic groups in Georgia, implying that it would be logical for Georgia not to be a united country. I find this preposterous; every country, from its early settlements to its eventual formation as a unified state, started with small bands of people or tribes that evolved into nations. Like any other country, Georgia has diverse regions and ethnic groups, which should not lead to the assumption that these differences make them unrelated to a unified Georgian identity.
Moreover, the author recounts an encounter with a farmer from the Adjarian mountains who, raised under the Soviet regime and influenced by propaganda, believes that the USA is merely a place and not a nationality, an assertion that Goltz finds insulting and agitating.
Goltz argues that Georgia deserves its misfortunes for producing Stalin and suggests that Beria deserves more credit and recognition. This perspective is deeply misguided.
Throughout the 20th century, Georgia suffered significantly under Soviet imperialism. Beginning with the Bolshevik Revolution, the region experienced massacres, mass incarcerations in gulags, and the suppression of individual freedoms that persisted until 1989. This era in Georgia has a striking resemblance to the dystopia depicted in George Orwell's novel "1984."
Goltz also blames the Georgian government for losing Abkhazia. While it is true that better decisions could have been made, it is crucial to consider the chaotic state Georgia found itself in after the collapse of communism. The driving force behind Georgia’s independence movement, the first elected President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was betrayed by the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, as well as the opposition congress. They signed a petition to release a criminal, madman, warlord, and potentially ex-Soviet informer from prison to putsch Gamsakhurdia, leading to distraction and chaos in the newly independent country. The Abkhazian war was also instigated by the Russian government to weaken Georgia as much as possible.
Additionally, Goltz labels Zviad Gamsakhurdia a national fascist, which is a mischaracterization. This label served as propaganda to incite hatred against him, particularly from Russia.
Furthermore, Goltz posits that Georgians possess "self-aggrandizing stupidity and chauvinism." I feel this is an unfair characterization of a people who have experienced cultural cleansing, Tsarist and Communist Russian repression aimed at replacing the Georgian national language with Russian, and the massacre of thousands of Georgian intellectuals and patriots fighting against the occupying Russian forces.
Somewhat lacking in nuance, the book leaves an impression that undermines the Georgian people's indomitable desire to resist tyranny and dictatorial Russian regimes. Even as I write this review, Putin’s Russian government is manipulating local pro-Putin party in charge to exert control over Georgia, and thousands of Georgians are in the streets protesting against it. I believe the spirit and strength of the Georgian people are remarkable, and they will always carry the fire in the darkness.
თავისუფლება ლომთა ხვედრია!
On several occasions, Goltz notes the presence of many different ethnic groups in Georgia, implying that it would be logical for Georgia not to be a united country. I find this preposterous; every country, from its early settlements to its eventual formation as a unified state, started with small bands of people or tribes that evolved into nations. Like any other country, Georgia has diverse regions and ethnic groups, which should not lead to the assumption that these differences make them unrelated to a unified Georgian identity.
Moreover, the author recounts an encounter with a farmer from the Adjarian mountains who, raised under the Soviet regime and influenced by propaganda, believes that the USA is merely a place and not a nationality, an assertion that Goltz finds insulting and agitating.
Goltz argues that Georgia deserves its misfortunes for producing Stalin and suggests that Beria deserves more credit and recognition. This perspective is deeply misguided.
Throughout the 20th century, Georgia suffered significantly under Soviet imperialism. Beginning with the Bolshevik Revolution, the region experienced massacres, mass incarcerations in gulags, and the suppression of individual freedoms that persisted until 1989. This era in Georgia has a striking resemblance to the dystopia depicted in George Orwell's novel "1984."
Goltz also blames the Georgian government for losing Abkhazia. While it is true that better decisions could have been made, it is crucial to consider the chaotic state Georgia found itself in after the collapse of communism. The driving force behind Georgia’s independence movement, the first elected President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was betrayed by the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, as well as the opposition congress. They signed a petition to release a criminal, madman, warlord, and potentially ex-Soviet informer from prison to putsch Gamsakhurdia, leading to distraction and chaos in the newly independent country. The Abkhazian war was also instigated by the Russian government to weaken Georgia as much as possible.
Additionally, Goltz labels Zviad Gamsakhurdia a national fascist, which is a mischaracterization. This label served as propaganda to incite hatred against him, particularly from Russia.
Furthermore, Goltz posits that Georgians possess "self-aggrandizing stupidity and chauvinism." I feel this is an unfair characterization of a people who have experienced cultural cleansing, Tsarist and Communist Russian repression aimed at replacing the Georgian national language with Russian, and the massacre of thousands of Georgian intellectuals and patriots fighting against the occupying Russian forces.
Somewhat lacking in nuance, the book leaves an impression that undermines the Georgian people's indomitable desire to resist tyranny and dictatorial Russian regimes. Even as I write this review, Putin’s Russian government is manipulating local pro-Putin party in charge to exert control over Georgia, and thousands of Georgians are in the streets protesting against it. I believe the spirit and strength of the Georgian people are remarkable, and they will always carry the fire in the darkness.
თავისუფლება ლომთა ხვედრია!
December 3, 2007
this predates the Rose Revolution...mostly during the turmoil of Gamshakhurdia.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews