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Історія Чорного моря
Це книжка про море та його роль в історії, культурі й політиці прибережних народів і держав. У різні часи Чорне море становило стратегічну мету великих імперій — Візантійської, Османської, Російської. Автор книжки – американський учений Чарльз Кінг – звів докупи історію, культуру й політику народів, що жили й живуть довкола Чорного моря. Він переглянув стару інтелектуальну мапу південно-східного краю Європи, оскільки ще не так давно уявлення про Чорне море як свого роду зв’язну геополітичну одиницю мало сенс не лише для місцевого населення і політичних лідерів, а й для західних дипломатів, стратегів і письменників, які займалися цим морем і проблемами довкола нього. В книжці Причорномор’я показано як ареал співіснування та змагання кількох цивілізацій. За періодами панування деяких з них тут виділено п’ять епох, кожній з яких присвячено окремий розділ. Також Ч.Кінг розглядає такі питання, як вплив на розвиток регіону наукових досліджень, епідемій та екологічних проблем. Автор подав наратив для великого регіону протягом усього історичного часу, що обіймає тисячоліття, коротко, цікаво й просто. Для широкого кола читачів.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2004
37 people are currently reading
821 people want to read
About the author
Charles King
14 books217 followersCharles King is a New York Times-bestselling author and a professor at Georgetown University. His books include EVERY VALLEY (2024), on the making of Handel's Messiah, which was a New York Times Notable Book; GODS OF THE UPPER AIR (2019), on the reinvention of race and gender in the early twentieth century, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Award; MIDNIGHT AT THE PERA PALACE (2014), on the birth of modern Istanbul, which was the inspiration for a Netflix series of the same name; and ODESSA (2011), winner of a National Jewish Book Award.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 2, 2015
An entertaining, mind-expanding, eye-opening, myth-shattering voyage through ten thousand years of human history, as lived on the shores of the Black Sea.
The Black Sea? Why should anyone care about the Black Sea? Because for thousands of years the Black Sea was a meeting point, a place where cultures mingled and melded to form some of mankind's most enduring civilizations. Because this book and its novel approach might just change the way you think about empires, nations and history. And anyway it’s fun to read and less than 300 pages long.
You’ve got nothing to lose but your preconceptions....
The human mind protects itself from accepting new perspectives. History is full of elaborate walled-off narratives, often framed in terms of conflict (Rome vs. Barbarians; Christianity vs Islam, etc). The narratives have an internal logic and a sense of compelling reality. But readers of history who try to step outside of these narratives, who dare to look at more than one competing vision of reality, may wander lost, bewildered by the contradictions, as if trapped in one of M.C. Escher’s impossible buildings.
Insight, and a way out of the labyrinthine constructions of academic history and politicized narratives, can sometimes be found simply by taking a look at things from a really new angle.
That is the simple brilliance of Charles King's The Black Sea: A History. On the surface it's a lively survey of the people who sailed across, journeyed around, and built their cities beside a body of water that had, until now, barely brushed against my consciousness.
I was diverted by the clever storytelling. I was enthralled by the grand, sweeping quality of King’s narrative, which encompasses geography; military and political history; economics and trade; demographic, religious and cultural evolutions. Despite the book's ambitious scope and admirable brevity, I never felt rushed or confused even though much of the history was completely new to me.
But King’s real genius is such that at nearly every page I would find myself reading passages again and again, uncovering new perspectives on human history—and hearing echoes of the past still sounding amid the noise of present-day news. Now, I will never see the world in quite the same way again.
More Stuff I Learned About The Black Sea
The Black Sea: A History starts its exploration with an illuminating essay on the nature of regions, frontiers and nations. King argues that for much of its history the region of the Black Sea—linked by rivers and seas and connecting vast overland trade and migration routes—was remarkably free of the deadliest forms of ethnic and religious strife. Life on the Black Sea was not always pacific, but “If there is an overarching story to the history of this sea, it is not about conflict and violence, least of all the kind that is said to define the fracture zones between incompatible ‘civilizations’.”
Yet the story of Black Sea begins with a cataclysm: a flood of Biblical force that, some 7,000 years ago, breached the eastern boundary of the Mediterranean and turned a once small inland sea into a vast inland ocean. The book concludes with yet another cataclysm—the flood tide of 19th and 20th century nationalism that shattered the delicate “filigree of human connections” and destroyed an ancient syncretistic culture millennia in the making.
Family Ties
It is striking how much continuity and interconnection of culture there was throughout the region despite the gradual influx of new groups and changes of power. From the ancient Greeks and Romans, to the Byzantines, to the Tartars, Mongols and Ottomans, the story is of meeting and melding. In one telling example, King cites records of regular intermarriage between prominent Byzantine and Turkoman families. "...the eventual conqueror of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmet II, actually had a reasonable claim to the Byzantine throne: He was the product of multiple marriages between Byzantine princesses and Ottoman sultans that stretched back more than a century."
The tradition of royal inter-regional marriages would continue throughout Ottoman history.
This is Fehime Sultan, the 'Butterfly Princess', daughter of Ottoman Sultan Murad V (1840–1904) and his fourth wife, Meyliservet Kadınefendi, a Circassian noblewoman from Batumi, Georgia
Trade Networks
Nor were marriage bonds the only ties: commerce, facilitated by the great network of trade routes meeting in the Black Sea, created powerful economic incentives for coexistence. The sea itself and the surrounding lands and rivers shaped cultures and forged connection. Marco Polo sailed from Trebizond to Constantinople in the late 1200s and mentions in passing the busy trading routes plied each day by Venetians, Genoese, Pisans and many others.
Map of trade routes during the 13th century Pax Mongolica showing links to China
Regional trade was not always benign. Taxes on the bustling slave trade around the Black Sea netted the Ottomans as much as 30% of their Crimean state tax revenues. Disease, too, found a ready highway, carried by ship and caravan to afflict much of the world.
Webs of Political Alliance
The region’s transitions from one dynasty to another are made much of by historians and pundits whose world view is of the clash of civilizations; but, King argues, these transitions are more accurately seen as “contests between rival political alliances that cut across lines of language, ethnicity, religion and even kinship” in a process of gradual and incessant political rebalancing.
For example, here is King’s comparison of early Ottoman reality vs. mythmaking:
Battles and raids and skirmishes were inevitable, but for thousands of years the call of commerce and long-established cultural ties and the yearning to settle down somewhere outweighed the human urge to quarrel and the periodic calls to arm. That was the order of things until the middle of the 19th century, when a tragic series of forced population transfers signaled the end of an ancient and enduring way of life. This was the true calamity that goes unrecognized in the static of modern nationalist dialog. King calls the process 'The Unpeopling.'
What a world and century of troubles to come are summed up in just those few sentences.
The Russian-Ottoman skirmishes were mere dress rehearsals for the 20th century’s horrors. The Armenian genocide; the “Greek”-“Turkish” transfers mandated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne; the Holocaust that eliminated the region’s Jews in World War II; and yet more ethnic killings and deportations in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras—all effectively destroyed, in one century, a three thousand year old civilization.
Other Reasons This Book is Great
Strunk and White famously admonished authors to pity the poor reader who is in serious trouble most of the time. Charles King is a born teacher and gifted writer and is always ready to help out floundering readers like me. Having only the vaguest notion of Black Sea geography I was grateful for King’s helpful and detailed maps showing peoples, political boundaries, cities and landmarks around the Black Sea during each era discussed.
The book’s organization is exemplary. Each chapter begins with a selection of quotes from ancient travelers—often quite amusing. Chapter headings include a date range as well as the name by which the sea was called in each era. Within the chapters, there is an introductory essay followed by short sections that are a lively blend of historical narrative, archival sources and travelers’ and official narratives. The Black Sea: A History is worth owning simply for the annotated bibliography and list of further reading.
As a final, rather more upbeat coda here's an article on a proposed trans-Black Sea pipeline linking Russia, Turkey, Greece and Serbia. It's perhaps a hopeful sign, but also a reminder that western Europe never was that keen on Byzantium or the Ottomans. http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-turkey-...
The Black Sea? Why should anyone care about the Black Sea? Because for thousands of years the Black Sea was a meeting point, a place where cultures mingled and melded to form some of mankind's most enduring civilizations. Because this book and its novel approach might just change the way you think about empires, nations and history. And anyway it’s fun to read and less than 300 pages long.
You’ve got nothing to lose but your preconceptions....
The human mind protects itself from accepting new perspectives. History is full of elaborate walled-off narratives, often framed in terms of conflict (Rome vs. Barbarians; Christianity vs Islam, etc). The narratives have an internal logic and a sense of compelling reality. But readers of history who try to step outside of these narratives, who dare to look at more than one competing vision of reality, may wander lost, bewildered by the contradictions, as if trapped in one of M.C. Escher’s impossible buildings.
Insight, and a way out of the labyrinthine constructions of academic history and politicized narratives, can sometimes be found simply by taking a look at things from a really new angle.
That is the simple brilliance of Charles King's The Black Sea: A History. On the surface it's a lively survey of the people who sailed across, journeyed around, and built their cities beside a body of water that had, until now, barely brushed against my consciousness.
I was diverted by the clever storytelling. I was enthralled by the grand, sweeping quality of King’s narrative, which encompasses geography; military and political history; economics and trade; demographic, religious and cultural evolutions. Despite the book's ambitious scope and admirable brevity, I never felt rushed or confused even though much of the history was completely new to me.
But King’s real genius is such that at nearly every page I would find myself reading passages again and again, uncovering new perspectives on human history—and hearing echoes of the past still sounding amid the noise of present-day news. Now, I will never see the world in quite the same way again.
More Stuff I Learned About The Black Sea
The Black Sea: A History starts its exploration with an illuminating essay on the nature of regions, frontiers and nations. King argues that for much of its history the region of the Black Sea—linked by rivers and seas and connecting vast overland trade and migration routes—was remarkably free of the deadliest forms of ethnic and religious strife. Life on the Black Sea was not always pacific, but “If there is an overarching story to the history of this sea, it is not about conflict and violence, least of all the kind that is said to define the fracture zones between incompatible ‘civilizations’.”
Yet the story of Black Sea begins with a cataclysm: a flood of Biblical force that, some 7,000 years ago, breached the eastern boundary of the Mediterranean and turned a once small inland sea into a vast inland ocean. The book concludes with yet another cataclysm—the flood tide of 19th and 20th century nationalism that shattered the delicate “filigree of human connections” and destroyed an ancient syncretistic culture millennia in the making.
Family Ties
It is striking how much continuity and interconnection of culture there was throughout the region despite the gradual influx of new groups and changes of power. From the ancient Greeks and Romans, to the Byzantines, to the Tartars, Mongols and Ottomans, the story is of meeting and melding. In one telling example, King cites records of regular intermarriage between prominent Byzantine and Turkoman families. "...the eventual conqueror of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmet II, actually had a reasonable claim to the Byzantine throne: He was the product of multiple marriages between Byzantine princesses and Ottoman sultans that stretched back more than a century."
The tradition of royal inter-regional marriages would continue throughout Ottoman history.
This is Fehime Sultan, the 'Butterfly Princess', daughter of Ottoman Sultan Murad V (1840–1904) and his fourth wife, Meyliservet Kadınefendi, a Circassian noblewoman from Batumi, Georgia
Trade Networks
Nor were marriage bonds the only ties: commerce, facilitated by the great network of trade routes meeting in the Black Sea, created powerful economic incentives for coexistence. The sea itself and the surrounding lands and rivers shaped cultures and forged connection. Marco Polo sailed from Trebizond to Constantinople in the late 1200s and mentions in passing the busy trading routes plied each day by Venetians, Genoese, Pisans and many others.
The Black Sea was at the center of an economic network that extended from the mulberry groves of China to the silk houses of Marseilles from the fairs of Novgorod and Kiev to the bazaars of Tabriz…Map of 8th-11th century trade routes along the Volga, shown in red, and via a complex river and portage route linking the Baltic with the Dnieper and the Black Sea, shown in blue.
Overland routes carried goods from China through central Asia and Persia to Trebizond. The rivers of the north carried traffic through Poland and Russia to the Baltic Sea bearing silk, fur and animal hides to the growing towns of northern Europe….
A merchant could start his journey in Genoa or Venice, sail half way across the Mediterranean, through the Straits and over the Black Sea, and at the end of it share a glass of wine with another Italian, probably even someone he knew. If a European importer could bring his Chinese silk or Indian spices as far as the Black Sea, they were almost home…get your merchandise to the Black Sea and you could get it anywhere in the world.
Map of trade routes during the 13th century Pax Mongolica showing links to China
Regional trade was not always benign. Taxes on the bustling slave trade around the Black Sea netted the Ottomans as much as 30% of their Crimean state tax revenues. Disease, too, found a ready highway, carried by ship and caravan to afflict much of the world.
Webs of Political Alliance
The region’s transitions from one dynasty to another are made much of by historians and pundits whose world view is of the clash of civilizations; but, King argues, these transitions are more accurately seen as “contests between rival political alliances that cut across lines of language, ethnicity, religion and even kinship” in a process of gradual and incessant political rebalancing.
For example, here is King’s comparison of early Ottoman reality vs. mythmaking:
The Ottomans were originally an unremarkable frontier dynasty, a combination of Turkoman nomads and Byzantine farmers, some perhaps converted to Islam, others still Christian, along with itinerant traders, Muslim scholars and Greek and Armenian and other townsmen—little different, in fact from the mixed cultures of the other Turkoman frontier emirates across Anatolia.The Unpeopling of the Black Sea
...none of the great battles of the fourteenth century, including the famous encounter at Kosovo field in June 1389 involved only Muslims on one side and only Christians on the other.
Most importantly, no early Byzantine account ever mentions the Ottoman’s alleged desire to conquer for their faith…The idea of warriors for Allah fighting the infidel is in fact a product of later Ottoman historians. Once the Ottomans acquired a real empire in the late 1300s and 1400s—with the conquest of the Balkans and finally of Constantinople—they had to manufacture a vision of their past that recast their heterodox nomadic ancestors as pious Muslims. Later European historians simply accepted whole cloth the Ottomans’ own propaganda.
Battles and raids and skirmishes were inevitable, but for thousands of years the call of commerce and long-established cultural ties and the yearning to settle down somewhere outweighed the human urge to quarrel and the periodic calls to arm. That was the order of things until the middle of the 19th century, when a tragic series of forced population transfers signaled the end of an ancient and enduring way of life. This was the true calamity that goes unrecognized in the static of modern nationalist dialog. King calls the process 'The Unpeopling.'
The forced movement of people, as refugees from armed conflict or as settlers uprooted by governments and planted again in new territories, is nothing new around the Black Sea....In antiquity, the port cities were places of punishment for impious poets and political dissenters. In the Ottoman period, the exile of entire villages, known as sürgün, was used as a punishment or as a form of colonization to populate low-density areas.In the early 1860s as Russia moved into the Caucasus highlands, villages were systematically emptied and hundreds of thousands of nominally Muslim highlanders—Circassians, Chechens, and others—were dispatched by ship to Ottoman ports. The Ottomans in turn moved the refugees on to “resettlement areas on their own restive frontiers in the Balkans, eastern Anatolia, and the Arab lands.”
Similar policies were adopted as the Russian empire expanded south in the 18th and 19th centuries. Tartar, Greeks, and Armenians were moved out of Crimea, and Slavic peasants were moved south to help settle the New Russian steppe
From the middle of the 19th century, organized population transfers both accelerated and changed in nature. Moving people could be accomplished more easily [via rail and steamship]….There was a new philosophical impetus as well. The rise of nationalism, first as a cultural movement among European-educated intellectuals and then as a state policy that linked political legitimacy with the historical destinies of culturally defined nations provided an additional reason for moving people from one place to another.
What a world and century of troubles to come are summed up in just those few sentences.
The Russian-Ottoman skirmishes were mere dress rehearsals for the 20th century’s horrors. The Armenian genocide; the “Greek”-“Turkish” transfers mandated by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne; the Holocaust that eliminated the region’s Jews in World War II; and yet more ethnic killings and deportations in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras—all effectively destroyed, in one century, a three thousand year old civilization.
Other Reasons This Book is Great
Strunk and White famously admonished authors to pity the poor reader who is in serious trouble most of the time. Charles King is a born teacher and gifted writer and is always ready to help out floundering readers like me. Having only the vaguest notion of Black Sea geography I was grateful for King’s helpful and detailed maps showing peoples, political boundaries, cities and landmarks around the Black Sea during each era discussed.
The book’s organization is exemplary. Each chapter begins with a selection of quotes from ancient travelers—often quite amusing. Chapter headings include a date range as well as the name by which the sea was called in each era. Within the chapters, there is an introductory essay followed by short sections that are a lively blend of historical narrative, archival sources and travelers’ and official narratives. The Black Sea: A History is worth owning simply for the annotated bibliography and list of further reading.
As a final, rather more upbeat coda here's an article on a proposed trans-Black Sea pipeline linking Russia, Turkey, Greece and Serbia. It's perhaps a hopeful sign, but also a reminder that western Europe never was that keen on Byzantium or the Ottomans. http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-turkey-...
October 13, 2025
A highly optimistic history, ending with the idea that the interstate war is almost impossible, in the region. Since its publishing, three-four armed conflicts have started, one ongoing. Presentism is always a difficult thing to get rid of.
I like the way in which the author tells a tale, and disliked maybe a certain shallowness towards the end. The style is very accessible, and is not burdened with many dates. Also, it is fast to read.
The Black Sea: A History it`s an example of the 1990s optimism, for which power politics was gone and the challenges were political or integration and the stabilization of weak states. Nationalism and nation-states were seen as a thing of the past. New issues like ecology and civil or non-state wars were the main security topics.
Nevertheless, if one moves beyond its theme and conclusions, it remains an entertaining book, which pendulates between large scale events and small ones, like legends, particular events or persons. The good side of postmodernism was to emphasize nuances and ambiguity, which helps the author to make his point. It was influenced by the classical history of Gheorghe Bratianu among others (p.272), but it offers a longer timeline and stronger internationalist emphasis.
I learned a lot from these small scale narratives. Like the one about Anacharsis the Scythian wise, or about the way modern ports were built. Also, one needs to remember that conclusions and predictions about war are notoriously unreliable; the ranking should be 3-4, worth reading.
I like the way in which the author tells a tale, and disliked maybe a certain shallowness towards the end. The style is very accessible, and is not burdened with many dates. Also, it is fast to read.
The Black Sea: A History it`s an example of the 1990s optimism, for which power politics was gone and the challenges were political or integration and the stabilization of weak states. Nationalism and nation-states were seen as a thing of the past. New issues like ecology and civil or non-state wars were the main security topics.
Nevertheless, if one moves beyond its theme and conclusions, it remains an entertaining book, which pendulates between large scale events and small ones, like legends, particular events or persons. The good side of postmodernism was to emphasize nuances and ambiguity, which helps the author to make his point. It was influenced by the classical history of Gheorghe Bratianu among others (p.272), but it offers a longer timeline and stronger internationalist emphasis.
I learned a lot from these small scale narratives. Like the one about Anacharsis the Scythian wise, or about the way modern ports were built. Also, one needs to remember that conclusions and predictions about war are notoriously unreliable; the ranking should be 3-4, worth reading.
January 4, 2013
One of the newish trends in the writing of history might be termed "regional studies." Rather than limiting themselves to a particular nation state, writers of this sort of history look beyond those limits to a given territory, such as the coast of the North Atlantic in Barry Cunliffe's FACING THE OCEAN. King's study of the lands around the Black Sea falls into this category.
It's a very readable, very workmanlike job. If I could, I think it'd give it 3.5 stars rather than 4, simply because -- as King admits -- he's done little original research. Still, one has to start somewhere, and this book provides a really good overview of both the actual history of the region and of the historical literature that deals with it. As is often the case with overviews, the notes and bibliography are worth the price of admission in themselves.
King also writes very well without sinking into academic jargon. His introduction, with his careful definition of terms such as "region" is valuable as a mini-essay in itself as well. In short, it's a good place to start for anyone who wants to know more about a region that's very much in the international news these days.
It's a very readable, very workmanlike job. If I could, I think it'd give it 3.5 stars rather than 4, simply because -- as King admits -- he's done little original research. Still, one has to start somewhere, and this book provides a really good overview of both the actual history of the region and of the historical literature that deals with it. As is often the case with overviews, the notes and bibliography are worth the price of admission in themselves.
King also writes very well without sinking into academic jargon. His introduction, with his careful definition of terms such as "region" is valuable as a mini-essay in itself as well. In short, it's a good place to start for anyone who wants to know more about a region that's very much in the international news these days.
February 5, 2017
Книгу можна сприймати як відповідник "Середземномор'я" Фернана Броделя: як спробу вийти за межі національних історій - і описати історію регіону, який є наднаціональним/наддержавним. Проте автор у вступі одразу ж застерігає: Середземномор'я існує, а от "Чорномор'я" - ні, оскільки не існує єдиної чорноморської кухні чи культури. Чи є тоді сенс говорити про історію Чорного моря? На думку автора, так - адже це регіон. Що таке регіон? Важливе питання, яке особливо актуальне для українських гуманітаріїв. Автор описує його просто: "В його основі лежать зв'язки - глибокі й тривкі контакти між людьми і суспільствами, які відрізняють один простір від іншого".
Взявши на озброєння це визначення і вирушивши вслід за автором крізь книгу, виявимо, що такого регіону як Чорномор'я не існує. І не завжди він існував в минулому. Чи давньогрецькі міста контактували між собою, чи більше з Малою Грецією? Чи просто варто в Античності виокремлювати Північне та Південне Причорномор'я? І що робити із Західним, яке стало частиною Римської Імперії, та Східним, яке ніколи в чорноморський світ не інтегрувалося повністю?
Питання про існування регіону постають протягом всієї книги, але автор вправно їх оминає. А деколи раптом розмиває межі свого ж поняття регіону. В розділі про Понт Евксинський він раптом включає параграфи про гетів та даків, які жили на рівнинах Румунії, але при Дунаю, який є частиною басейну Чорного моря. Проте чи даки контактували з Причорномор'ям?
Інший недолік книги - європоцентричність. Автор дуже мало приділяє уваги не-західному погляду на Чорне море. Наприклад, Русь, Галицько-Волинське князівство, Велике князівство Литовське та Річ Посполита на сторінках книги фігурують як не в ролі статистів, то другорядних персонажів. А Галицької Русі немає взагалі. Хоча остання намагалася вийти до Чорного моря - про що свідчить історія Івана Берладника, ВКЛ також вийшло до моря, але відступило, а Річ Посполита хотіла бути державою від [Балтійського] моря і до [Чорного] моря. Натомість, в тексті фігурує Антична Греція, Рим, Ґенуя та Венеція, Оттоманська Порта, Франція, Великобританія. Цікаво, що автор побіжно згадує про описи арабськими мандрівниками Чорного моря, але вони в тексті фігурують як цікавинки - систематичного огляду, чому ж арабів так тягнуло до Чорного моря, немає. З тексту складається враження, що до моря тягнуло лише країни з заходу, але не сходу (і з півдня - Візантію та Оттоманську Порту).
Інший момент, який розчаровує: автор обіцяє розповісти, як фронтирне різгоманіття уніфікувалося і стало системою національних держав. Втім, цьому присвячено з півдюжини сторінок - в параграфі про депортації в кін. ХІХ ст. - пер. пол. ХХ ст. До того ж автор просто зазначає: ось так Чорне мора демонструвало, що межа між здавалось би чіткими утвореннями такою не є. Наприклад, греки в Трапезунті були ближчими до варварів, ніж до греків Афін, проте вважали себе греками. І таких прикладів в тексті доволі багато.
Проте не можна сказати, що книга написана погано. Це доволі чіткий і структурований виклад історії населення, яке жило на берегах Чорного моря та сусідніх територіях. Найцікавішими для мене були розділи про античний період в історії Чорного моря, а також про ХІХ-ХХ ст. Викладені там факти показують, що Чорне море було доволі тісно інтегроване в Середземноморський світ. Саме це є основною метою книги: показати, що регіон, який начебто лежить на периферії Європи, насправді часто був в центрі європейської історії. І з цього погляду європоцентризм книги можна цілком пробачити.
Це гарна книга, яка дозволяє поглянути на історію з перспективи "світ-системного підходу", тобто вийти за межі національних історій. Також книга пропонує подумати над питанням: наскільки ідентичності були важливими для домодерних людей? В тексті ми часто стикаємося з випадками, коли релігійна ідентичність відкидалася на користь династичних інтересів тощо. Християни Кавказу допомагають мусульманам Персії в боротьбі проти Візантії і так далі. Втім, книга радше змушує задуматися, що ми знаємо про минуле, ніж дає чітку і однозначну картину історії Чорного моря.
І за це книжка вартує прочитання.
Взявши на озброєння це визначення і вирушивши вслід за автором крізь книгу, виявимо, що такого регіону як Чорномор'я не існує. І не завжди він існував в минулому. Чи давньогрецькі міста контактували між собою, чи більше з Малою Грецією? Чи просто варто в Античності виокремлювати Північне та Південне Причорномор'я? І що робити із Західним, яке стало частиною Римської Імперії, та Східним, яке ніколи в чорноморський світ не інтегрувалося повністю?
Питання про існування регіону постають протягом всієї книги, але автор вправно їх оминає. А деколи раптом розмиває межі свого ж поняття регіону. В розділі про Понт Евксинський він раптом включає параграфи про гетів та даків, які жили на рівнинах Румунії, але при Дунаю, який є частиною басейну Чорного моря. Проте чи даки контактували з Причорномор'ям?
Інший недолік книги - європоцентричність. Автор дуже мало приділяє уваги не-західному погляду на Чорне море. Наприклад, Русь, Галицько-Волинське князівство, Велике князівство Литовське та Річ Посполита на сторінках книги фігурують як не в ролі статистів, то другорядних персонажів. А Галицької Русі немає взагалі. Хоча остання намагалася вийти до Чорного моря - про що свідчить історія Івана Берладника, ВКЛ також вийшло до моря, але відступило, а Річ Посполита хотіла бути державою від [Балтійського] моря і до [Чорного] моря. Натомість, в тексті фігурує Антична Греція, Рим, Ґенуя та Венеція, Оттоманська Порта, Франція, Великобританія. Цікаво, що автор побіжно згадує про описи арабськими мандрівниками Чорного моря, але вони в тексті фігурують як цікавинки - систематичного огляду, чому ж арабів так тягнуло до Чорного моря, немає. З тексту складається враження, що до моря тягнуло лише країни з заходу, але не сходу (і з півдня - Візантію та Оттоманську Порту).
Інший момент, який розчаровує: автор обіцяє розповісти, як фронтирне різгоманіття уніфікувалося і стало системою національних держав. Втім, цьому присвячено з півдюжини сторінок - в параграфі про депортації в кін. ХІХ ст. - пер. пол. ХХ ст. До того ж автор просто зазначає: ось так Чорне мора демонструвало, що межа між здавалось би чіткими утвореннями такою не є. Наприклад, греки в Трапезунті були ближчими до варварів, ніж до греків Афін, проте вважали себе греками. І таких прикладів в тексті доволі багато.
Проте не можна сказати, що книга написана погано. Це доволі чіткий і структурований виклад історії населення, яке жило на берегах Чорного моря та сусідніх територіях. Найцікавішими для мене були розділи про античний період в історії Чорного моря, а також про ХІХ-ХХ ст. Викладені там факти показують, що Чорне море було доволі тісно інтегроване в Середземноморський світ. Саме це є основною метою книги: показати, що регіон, який начебто лежить на периферії Європи, насправді часто був в центрі європейської історії. І з цього погляду європоцентризм книги можна цілком пробачити.
Це гарна книга, яка дозволяє поглянути на історію з перспективи "світ-системного підходу", тобто вийти за межі національних історій. Також книга пропонує подумати над питанням: наскільки ідентичності були важливими для домодерних людей? В тексті ми часто стикаємося з випадками, коли релігійна ідентичність відкидалася на користь династичних інтересів тощо. Християни Кавказу допомагають мусульманам Персії в боротьбі проти Візантії і так далі. Втім, книга радше змушує задуматися, що ми знаємо про минуле, ніж дає чітку і однозначну картину історії Чорного моря.
І за це книжка вартує прочитання.
March 10, 2024
A much too brief but pleasant history of the Black Sea. With a bit under 300 pages the author has to breeze from antiquity to the middle ages to the industrial age and the modern period.
The book covers all of the basic facts and is a decent overview but it would have been much better if it was twice or even three times longer. As it is the history of Turkey and Russia take up the biggest part of the book.
The ending is also a bit out of date because it reflects the optimism of the early 2000s the author stating that any conflicts between Black Sea nations is virtually unthinkable today.
All in all this is a decent introduction to the area but leaves out a lot of valuable details.
The book covers all of the basic facts and is a decent overview but it would have been much better if it was twice or even three times longer. As it is the history of Turkey and Russia take up the biggest part of the book.
The ending is also a bit out of date because it reflects the optimism of the early 2000s the author stating that any conflicts between Black Sea nations is virtually unthinkable today.
All in all this is a decent introduction to the area but leaves out a lot of valuable details.
July 16, 2017
I'm no expert on the history of this area, and I found this book to be a good sweeping introduction to it. As a layperson I wanted to get an overview and it certainly delivered in a short and readable form. I also appreciate the recommended further readings at the end. If you're already familiar with the history of the Black Sea region you may not find much to learn here, but if not, I'd certainly recommend you pick this one up.
February 8, 2015
With almost 3,000 years of history to work with, King does a fair job of relating the history of the kingdoms, nations and soviets that have risen and fallen along its shores. By keeping the book short, it is accessible for someone with a casual interest of the regions history--and it is a good jumping-off point for more in-depth research.
The primary focus is on those empires that sought to turn the Black Sea into an exclusive lake, beginning with the Greeks of Miletus, continuing through to Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. I probably learned the most about Catherine the Great's great push into the region against the Ottomans, and how significant Crimea and Odessa were for Russian history.
The book runs out of steam after World War I. World War II and the Yalta Conference are mere afterthoughts, it seems. Instead King hones in on environmental challenges to the sea and international efforts to preserve it.
Any visit to a nation that borders the Black Sea will be made more interesting thanks to King's book. Preparing for a visit to the Republic of Georgia, I now have several new avenues of exploration to pursue.
The primary focus is on those empires that sought to turn the Black Sea into an exclusive lake, beginning with the Greeks of Miletus, continuing through to Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. I probably learned the most about Catherine the Great's great push into the region against the Ottomans, and how significant Crimea and Odessa were for Russian history.
The book runs out of steam after World War I. World War II and the Yalta Conference are mere afterthoughts, it seems. Instead King hones in on environmental challenges to the sea and international efforts to preserve it.
Any visit to a nation that borders the Black Sea will be made more interesting thanks to King's book. Preparing for a visit to the Republic of Georgia, I now have several new avenues of exploration to pursue.
October 26, 2025
2014年，克里米亞危機的暴發，在烏克蘭跟俄羅斯之間的爭端，讓黑海周邊成為國際矚目的焦點。其實這個區域，儘管它對地中海產生不小的影響，但經常都不是歷史的中心。華文圈對於這塊的介紹書籍也非常稀少，這本《黑海史》也就相對容易吸引人注意。不過大家應該對作者Charles King 不會太陌生，他的另外一部作品《午夜的佩拉皇宮》也引進台灣不久，其優雅文筆跟敘事功力應該讓人印象深刻。我在網路上久聞本書風評不差，於是就買回來拜讀。
黑海自古以來，常常處於“邊緣地帶”，希臘人認為那兒是“世界的盡頭”，“文明與野蠻的交界”(雖然他們心知肚明未必真的多落後，只是跟自己不同)。但黑海盛產的許多商品，特別是穀物，卻養活了愛琴海的多少人，之後甚至還會延伸到東地中海的其他地方。資源交換是人類的生存的手段，而商業貿易則是致富的關鍵，在鐵路發明前，水路在效率上明顯高人一等，黑海周邊的河道，加上豐富的物產，使這一帶的商人絡繹不絕。也因此，這裡常常都是文化的熔爐，來自各地形形色色的人，定居於此，在此交易，共生共榮。
這裡是游牧與農業的交界，此起彼落的政權與帝國，卻很少能掌握住整個黑海周邊。即便是盛極一時的鄂圖曼土耳其，也只是選擇控制沿海的要地，然後憑威勢外交臣服周邊各王公大汗，形成一個霸權即滿足。這是時勢，也是一種智慧。對土耳其人來說，黑海雖然重要，但卻無須付出太多的心力。
俄羅斯人就不同了，它們是自蒙古人以後第一個來自北方的帝國，雄心勃勃的在此建設，移民，真正的把黑海周邊納入自己的完全掌握之中。不過，即便如此，也還是沒有改變黑海這個文化交融薈萃之地的特色。十八世紀以後來到此地的旅人，依然可以看到這種混雜著東方異國風情跟西方文明的景色，讓他們覺得不虛此行。
直到民族主義這個病毒的出現，跟地中海一樣，黑海也難逃其荼毒。北方共產化的俄羅斯，南方新生的土耳其及周邊一一獨立的各種意識形態民族國家，都訴諸“種族純淨”。不顧現實，只憑著一種“想像的共同體”，逼迫人們離開自己祖先的家園，去跟其實陌生的“同胞”共居。箇中辛酸，就不是三言兩語可以道盡了。
今天的黑海周邊，已不復當年之景，不過各國還是得為了環保而努力，因為失去了的不只是那文化交融的氛圍，生態浩劫同樣令人憂心。只是，地緣政治跟過往的歷史糾葛依舊阻擾著人們的齊心協力。作者在對於現代局勢的一些描述，就已經被事實給推翻了，雖然這怪不得誰。
在短短的篇幅中，描述一塊區域漫長的歷史，Charles King的節奏掌握的還不錯，個人是覺得他對鄂圖曼帝國以後的部分描述的最好，比如土耳其人跟拜占庭的糾葛，少人提及特拉比宗帝國的介紹，特別是奴隸制度，相當有意思。感覺土耳其人對待奴隸跟古羅馬大同小異，有些過的甚至比窮苦的自由農好，還能出人頭地呢！
總而言之，Charles King這本《黑海史》算是出色了完成了它的任務，讓讀者能以閱讀文學的體驗，感受深度的知識，滿足了自己的求知慾，值得推薦。
黑海自古以來，常常處於“邊緣地帶”，希臘人認為那兒是“世界的盡頭”，“文明與野蠻的交界”(雖然他們心知肚明未必真的多落後，只是跟自己不同)。但黑海盛產的許多商品，特別是穀物，卻養活了愛琴海的多少人，之後甚至還會延伸到東地中海的其他地方。資源交換是人類的生存的手段，而商業貿易則是致富的關鍵，在鐵路發明前，水路在效率上明顯高人一等，黑海周邊的河道，加上豐富的物產，使這一帶的商人絡繹不絕。也因此，這裡常常都是文化的熔爐，來自各地形形色色的人，定居於此，在此交易，共生共榮。
這裡是游牧與農業的交界，此起彼落的政權與帝國，卻很少能掌握住整個黑海周邊。即便是盛極一時的鄂圖曼土耳其，也只是選擇控制沿海的要地，然後憑威勢外交臣服周邊各王公大汗，形成一個霸權即滿足。這是時勢，也是一種智慧。對土耳其人來說，黑海雖然重要，但卻無須付出太多的心力。
俄羅斯人就不同了，它們是自蒙古人以後第一個來自北方的帝國，雄心勃勃的在此建設，移民，真正的把黑海周邊納入自己的完全掌握之中。不過，即便如此，也還是沒有改變黑海這個文化交融薈萃之地的特色。十八世紀以後來到此地的旅人，依然可以看到這種混雜著東方異國風情跟西方文明的景色，讓他們覺得不虛此行。
直到民族主義這個病毒的出現，跟地中海一樣，黑海也難逃其荼毒。北方共產化的俄羅斯，南方新生的土耳其及周邊一一獨立的各種意識形態民族國家，都訴諸“種族純淨”。不顧現實，只憑著一種“想像的共同體”，逼迫人們離開自己祖先的家園，去跟其實陌生的“同胞”共居。箇中辛酸，就不是三言兩語可以道盡了。
今天的黑海周邊，已不復當年之景，不過各國還是得為了環保而努力，因為失去了的不只是那文化交融的氛圍，生態浩劫同樣令人憂心。只是，地緣政治跟過往的歷史糾葛依舊阻擾著人們的齊心協力。作者在對於現代局勢的一些描述，就已經被事實給推翻了，雖然這怪不得誰。
在短短的篇幅中，描述一塊區域漫長的歷史，Charles King的節奏掌握的還不錯，個人是覺得他對鄂圖曼帝國以後的部分描述的最好，比如土耳其人跟拜占庭的糾葛，少人提及特拉比宗帝國的介紹，特別是奴隸制度，相當有意思。感覺土耳其人對待奴隸跟古羅馬大同小異，有些過的甚至比窮苦的自由農好，還能出人頭地呢！
總而言之，Charles King這本《黑海史》算是出色了完成了它的任務，讓讀者能以閱讀文學的體驗，感受深度的知識，滿足了自己的求知慾，值得推薦。
May 16, 2024
This was a book that I should have enjoyed more. However, it's one that I never really felt that enthusiastic about.
Treating the Black Sea and the surrounding lands as a coherent zone is a bit flawed in itself. It was generally just the water between very different places and whilst many of these places did look to the sea, rather than a mountainous hinterland, they didn't look across the sea. Instead they looked up and down the coast and not all the way over.
As a result, this isn't really a work that comes together as a whole.
Most of the stuff that affected the Black Sea happened far away from it, in the courts of the Great Powers, or at best, the Black Sea was merely the venue of a larger issue. It makes more sense to see the Black Sea through the regional histories, instead of as a historical place itself.
This is a book that ran out of steam before I got to the end.
Treating the Black Sea and the surrounding lands as a coherent zone is a bit flawed in itself. It was generally just the water between very different places and whilst many of these places did look to the sea, rather than a mountainous hinterland, they didn't look across the sea. Instead they looked up and down the coast and not all the way over.
As a result, this isn't really a work that comes together as a whole.
Most of the stuff that affected the Black Sea happened far away from it, in the courts of the Great Powers, or at best, the Black Sea was merely the venue of a larger issue. It makes more sense to see the Black Sea through the regional histories, instead of as a historical place itself.
This is a book that ran out of steam before I got to the end.
July 25, 2024
I really enjoy this author's writing style. This book is a survey of the people and history around the Black Sea. I think it fits well with "The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean" by David Abulafia. The Black sea takes us into Turkey and Russia, along with other cultures and countries around the Black Sea. The presence of war in so much history, is painful and sad to me. I enjoyed his look at the ecology of the Black Sea towards the end of the book. I do suggest the book, if a survey of this area's history sounds interesting to you.
April 4, 2018
A book covering a unique topic that caught my eye in the library. Considering the busy historical events that occurred over the centuries in this watery basin, it's quite surprising no one until recently has looked into the history of this unique body of water. I'm please to say that this book manages to cover the topic informatively, in easy-to-read style. It's a pity it hasn't been updated since 2004, as the recent annexation of Crimea would add tremendously to its coverage of the area.
February 28, 2025
What an interesting book, even though it probably was targeted for academics. Every time I read something about this region, Istanbul and the Balkins I learn more about why the 20th century was so fraught. So many of our current issues are generated by the history of this area, and you never hear about it.
February 11, 2018
O carte care ar trebui sa se predea in scoli!
Want to read
November 30, 2021mskskak...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2022
Historia i kultura obszarów nad Morzem Czarnym. Super się czytało.
November 27, 2022
Изключително трезво, научно повествование за черноморския регион от древността до наши дни и смените в перцепцията на хората за него. Задължителна.
November 9, 2009
Charles King shines as a storyteller whose main character is a body of water.
This book is neither exhaustive, nor exhausting. Prof. King shows merciful restraint by limiting his story to events taking place on the sea or its littoral, and only includes major events affecting territories around the sea (revolutions, wars, plagues, etc.) when such events have proximate or ultimate effects on life around the sea, as well. A consequence of this narrow focus is an inconvenient lack of context at times, but King’s self-control avoids the temptation to follow each war, migration, and political development back to sources unrelated to the Black Sea – a concern in a place where all things Asian and European inevitably meet. The book is far from pithy, and instead free to focus in greater detail on sea-related issues.
Future editions could benefit from the addition of graphics and figures demonstrating the evolution of Black Sea maritime technology and a timeline of treaties and international agreements.
This book is neither exhaustive, nor exhausting. Prof. King shows merciful restraint by limiting his story to events taking place on the sea or its littoral, and only includes major events affecting territories around the sea (revolutions, wars, plagues, etc.) when such events have proximate or ultimate effects on life around the sea, as well. A consequence of this narrow focus is an inconvenient lack of context at times, but King’s self-control avoids the temptation to follow each war, migration, and political development back to sources unrelated to the Black Sea – a concern in a place where all things Asian and European inevitably meet. The book is far from pithy, and instead free to focus in greater detail on sea-related issues.
Future editions could benefit from the addition of graphics and figures demonstrating the evolution of Black Sea maritime technology and a timeline of treaties and international agreements.
September 1, 2016
This is a rather detailed history and may be too much for many readers, but the overall storoy is just fascinating. The Black Sea obviously sits at the center of much of Western history, with Europe to the west, Asia to the south, and the vast steppes all the way to China in the east. Trade across the sea has been ongoing since before history. The Greeks established colonies there by 900 BC and mythos, like the Golden Fleece and some of Hercules labors occur there. After the fall of Rome, the Byzantine Empire moved into the region and various barbarian invasions from Genghis Kahn and through the Golden Horde and Ottomans have reworked the place. The movements of peoples and religions have gone on for centuries and continue to modern times. The Greek/Ottoman displacements even in the 1920s have fantastic, albeit brutal, stories to tell. Overall, this is a most engaging book, even if you skim some details.
September 12, 2012
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Istanbul and the Black Sea coast of Turkey. King provides a broad overview of the history of the region using both primary and secondary sources. He gives balanced time to the entire area, thus no one country takes center stage in the book. The Recommended Reading section is very complete and is an excellent bibliography for anyone undertaking studies of the region. I would recommend this book for anyone planning a to go to Turkey or southern Russia/Ukraine. It will add context to your trip. Well done Mr. King.
August 3, 2014
King provides a short and readable account of the main periods of Black Sea history and does much to try to imagine his subject as a unitary subject much like other authors have already done with the Mediterranean. The book also includes a good bibliography for those interested in further reading.
June 5, 2007
A comprehensive yet approachable history of the Black Sea region and the intermingling of Greek, Turk, Tatar, and Rhos cultures there.
July 24, 2016
Brilliant overview, striking the right balance between storytelling, detail and reflection
December 8, 2011
Excellent history of the land surrounding the Black Sea. Not an easy read.
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