The master of the hardheaded travelogue, Robert D. Kaplan returns with a book on what he calls "the New Near East," an area stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia that "might become the seismograph of world politics" in the new century. That doesn't sound like good news: "The pitiless history of the Near East [is] dominated by marauding armies and earthquakes while peace treaties have merely formalized temporary stalemates on the ground." Kaplan has made a career of writing about the world's trouble spots "without illusions"--his books Balkan Ghosts and The Ends of the Earth are at once influential and pessimistic.

Eastward to Tartary is a fascinating exploration of places Kaplan has not written about in depth before: "Third World Europe" (Romania and Bulgaria), Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and the confusing conglomeration of countries and peoples in the Caucasus. Smart observations leap off almost every page. "In every Arab city I have ever visited, people were polite and honest, running after you to return a loose coin you have left at a soft-drinks stand," he writes. So why hasn't democracy taken hold in the Islamic world? "The very perfection of the Islamic belief system begot a naive absolutism that made the compromises of normal political life impossible." In an aside on ancient Assyria, Kaplan notes, "The theme is always the same: Highly militarized and centralized states and empires, so indomitable in one decade or generation, hack themselves to pieces or are themselves conquered in another." Then he reminds readers that Assyria once bestrode present-day Iraq and Syria--a "hauntingly appropriate" coincidence. And surprising facts abound: "Turkey represents the most stable governmental dynasty in world history, with the Turkish soldiery able to trace the roots of its power to the Roman emperors." Fans of Kaplan's previous books won't want to miss this one, and neither will new readers interested in this part of the world. --John J. Miller


From Publishers Weekly
In 1993, as the blood-letting in Yugoslavia's ethnic civil war entered its fifth year, Kaplan, a foreign correspondent, wrote a history of that tragic region that became an instant bestseller. The war and its elements of genocide paved the way for popular reception of Balkan Ghosts, but it is Kaplan's name that will secure readers for his newest travelogue. In many ways, this book is the sequel to Balkan Ghosts, telling the story of those other orphans of the Ottoman EmpireDthe lands of the Middle and Near East. Kaplan's intention is to introduce Tartary (known today as Central Asia) as a place that has more in common with the Western Balkan countries than with the Oriental images conjured up by its exotic name. Walking the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan, he sees images of the Romanian capital, Bucharest; both reside in the 100-year-old shadows of a cosmopolitan Ottoman boomtown, and in the more obvious decay and disenchantment that is the legacy of the shorter-lived Soviet empire. In relating his travels through Syria, Israel and Lebanon, Kaplan focuses less on the effects of communism and more on the way Turkey remains a historical link between Arab and European powers. Whether he is analyzing the basis for Turko-Israeli alliances or pondering the likelihood of an ethnic "Balkanization" of the Middle East, Kaplan is thinking in terms of a new "seismograph of world politics in the twenty-first century." His readers will be left with a rich supply of historic, geographic and cultural cross-references to apply when they read the news about some of today's most strategic hot spots. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Erudite and intrepid... [Kaplan] is a deft guide to wherever he chooses to lead you."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Packed with provocative insights."
--Washington Monthly

"A graceful writer... Providing historical (and cultural and religious) context is what Kaplan does best."
--Los Angeles Times




Review
"Erudite and intrepid... [Kaplan] is a deft guide to wherever he chooses to lead you."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Packed with provocative insights."
--Washington Monthly

"A graceful writer... Providing historical (and cultural and religious) context is what Kaplan does best."
--Los Angeles Times




Book Description
Eastward to Tartary, Robert Kaplan's first book to focus on a single region since his bestselling Balkan Ghosts, introduces readers to an explosive and little-known part of the world destined to become a tinderbox of the future.

Kaplan takes us on a spellbinding journey into the heart of a volatile region, stretching from Hungary and Romania to the far shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. Through dramatic stories of unforgettable characters, Kaplan illuminates the tragic history of this unstable area that he describes as the new fault line between East and West. He ventures from Turkey, Syria, and Israel to the turbulent countries of the Caucasus, from the newly rich city of Baku to the deserts of Turkmenistan and the killing fields of Armenia. The result is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of our world in the decades to come.


From the Inside Flap
Eastward to Tartary, Robert Kaplan's first book to focus on a single region since his bestselling Balkan Ghosts, introduces readers to an explosive and little-known part of the world destined to become a tinderbox of the future.

Kaplan takes us on a spellbinding journey into the heart of a volatile region, stretching from Hungary and Romania to the far shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. Through dramatic stories of unforgettable characters, Kaplan illuminates the tragic history of this unstable area that he describes as the new fault line between East and West. He ventures from Turkey, Syria, and Israel to the turbulent countries of the Caucasus, from the newly rich city of Baku to the deserts of Turkmenistan and the killing fields of Armenia. The result is must reading for anyone concerned about the state of our world in the decades to come.


From the Back Cover
"Erudite and intrepid... [Kaplan] is a deft guide to wherever he chooses to lead you."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Packed with provocative insights."
--Washington Monthly

"A graceful writer... Providing historical (and cultural and religious) context is what Kaplan does best."
--Los Angeles Times




About the Author
Robert D. Kaplan is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and the bestselling author of eight previous books on foreign affairs and travel, including Balkan Ghosts, The Ends of the Earth, The Coming Anarchy, and Eastward to Tartary. He is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. He lives with his wife and son in western Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Eastward to Tartary, Robert D. Kaplan takes us on a spellbinding journey into the heart of a little-known but volatile region, stretching from Romania and Bulgaria to the far shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. As in Kaplan's bestselling Balkan Ghosts, it is a journey over land and through history, an introduction to an important and potentially explosive part of the world that is destined to be the new fault line between East and West.

Through dramatic stories of unforgettable characters past and present, Kaplan illuminates the tragic history of this unstable region that he describes as the Balkans of the future. He ventures from Turkey, Syria, and Israel to the turbulent countries of the Caucasus, from the newly rich city of Baku to the deserts of Turkmenistan and the killing fields of Armenia. Kaplan's flair for historical insight, coupled with vivid observations from his travels through this mysterious land of toppled regimes and ancient feuds, makes fascinating reading for anyone concerned about the state of our world in the decades to come.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In 1993, as the blood-letting in Yugoslavia's ethnic civil war entered its fifth year, Kaplan, a foreign correspondent, wrote a history of that tragic region that became an instant bestseller. The war and its elements of genocide paved the way for popular reception of Balkan Ghosts, but it is Kaplan's name that will secure readers for his newest travelogue. In many ways, this book is the sequel to Balkan Ghosts, telling the story of those other orphans of the Ottoman Empire--the lands of the Middle and Near East. Kaplan's intention is to introduce Tartary (known today as Central Asia) as a place that has more in common with the Western Balkan countries than with the Oriental images conjured up by its exotic name. Walking the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan, he sees images of the Romanian capital, Bucharest; both reside in the 100-year-old shadows of a cosmopolitan Ottoman boomtown, and in the more obvious decay and disenchantment that is the legacy of the shorter-lived Soviet empire. In relating his travels through Syria, Israel and Lebanon, Kaplan focuses less on the effects of communism and more on the way Turkey remains a historical link between Arab and European powers. Whether he is analyzing the basis for Turko-Israeli alliances or pondering the likelihood of an ethnic "Balkanization" of the Middle East, Kaplan is thinking in terms of a new "seismograph of world politics in the twenty-first century." His readers will be left with a rich supply of historic, geographic and cultural cross-references to apply when they read the news about some of today's most strategic hot spots. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This perceptive travelog, which takes its title from journalist Kaplan's 11-country trip from the Balkans to "Tartary" (modern-day Turkmenistan), offers lyrical descriptions of the landscapes and insightful vignettes of uncommon clarity. As in his Balkan Ghosts, the author interprets present-day politics through the lens of "national character" and historical simile. In the earlier book, this approach yielded the often-discredited "ancient hatreds" thesis of conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Here Kaplan is more cautious, although he is likely to provoke controversy in asserting that Israel's right-wing parties "eerily resemble" the actions of Jewish zealots of the Roman era or that the Western promotion of democracy in the post-Soviet periphery amounts to an evasion, not a policy. Kaplan's strength lies in the quality of his interviews, which produce such surprises as the perceived importance of Israel's military alliance with Turkey. No single work can provide an understanding of so vast a political and cultural m lange, but Kaplan's book stimulates interest as few books can. Recommended for public and academic libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/00.] Zachary T. Irwin, Behrend Coll., Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Richard Bernstein - New York Times

President-elect George W. Bush could do a lot worse in preparing for the foreign affairs part of his job than to read Eastward to Tartary by Robert D. Kaplan, a scholarly and adventurous journalist who roams the less-traveled regions of the globe and writes about them knowledgeably and with sophistication...This entire book is illuminated by an unillusioned intelligence and a steady sort of attention to deeper, longer-range trends rather than what might be called headline-news ephemera... If there is a better, more sophisticated and informed primer to the emerging powers and problems of the Greater Middle East, I don't know what it is.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

David Landes

Kaplan is one of the two or three top travel writers of our day. He chooses important places (not merely pretty); he studies up on history, geography, and societies; and he tells wonderful stories about people. I'm a great believer in the power of anecdote, and Kaplan is a master of anecdote—not simply to entertain but to instruct. Even when I disagree, I come away wiser. — author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

Jane Fletcher Geniesse