false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168455630m/33687.jpg 33687 3 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 <I>Balkan Ghosts</I> and <I>The Ends of the Earth</I> are at once influential and pessimistic. <p> <I>Eastward to Tartary</I> 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. <I>--John J. Miller</I> 348144 2000 Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus total:189|5:55|4:90|3:38|2:6|1:0| 189 761 280 17 4 0 false true Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 21:50:36 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 22:49:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu May 21 12:50:03 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 12:53:41 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Dec 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Aug 17 02:19:28 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 24 05:11:59 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 23 09:13:51 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 23 09:18:49 -0800 2007 Fantastic portrait of the Balkans and beyond. Kaplan more or less does the exact route I've been wanting to do -- from eastern Europe through Turkey, Syria and several 'stans. He doesn't go all the way across Mongolia and China and Russia, but for at least the beginning, his trip mirrors my planned ...

more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 20 11:18:39 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 20 11:18:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 19 09:17:56 -0800 2008 Wed May 21 10:52:55 -0700 2008 Eastward to Tartary and Balkan Ghosts: they're good, if a bit schizophrenic. It's as if he couldn't quite decide which aspect of each the region to focus on. A a result, each country has small, far-from-comprehensive portions of its history, politics, ethnography, an...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 24 07:50:09 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 07:51:02 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 06 16:38:35 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 19:35:54 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Sep 17 10:51:04 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 10:58:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Oct 25 08:52:59 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 08:56:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Mar 28 19:55:41 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 12:29:42 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Apr 10 12:51:21 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 12:53:41 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun Jan 06 22:31:13 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 22:32:14 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun May 04 19:15:09 -0700 2008 Sun May 04 19:16:20 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jan 25 00:25:23 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 00:26:04 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Thu Sep 27 10:38:36 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 27 10:52:53 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Wed May 14 12:02:51 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 12:03:05 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Nov 15 10:39:36 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:39:36 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Nov 11 17:48:50 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 17:48:59 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Oct 22 13:13:31 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 13:13:31 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=33687