This blessed land: Crimea and the Crimean Tatars

Abstract

This blessed land: and the Crimean Tatars, by Paul Robert Magocsi, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2014, 152 pp., $24.95 (hbk), ISBN 978-0-772-75110-2This Blessed Land by Paul Robert Magocsi fills a notable gap in the English-language literature on Crimea. While the scope of the book is vast, beginning before the Common Era and ending in 2013, Magocsi succeeds in crafting a narrative that is both balanced and engaging. While one might initially be skeptical of such a broad undertaking, this history of will provide anyone who is interested with deep insight into a fascinating region from the earliest civilizations in prehistoric times to its experience as part of multiethnic, independent Ukraine. The cadence throughout is superb: there is enough detail to provide a compelling story yet the book never becomes mired in details.Comprised of 10 chapters and 152 pages, the book begins with a beautiful description of the land itself. The chapter on Crimea's earliest civilizations brings this period to life with animated prose. Subsequent chapters provide descriptions of the Kipchak, Mongol, Tatar, and Italianate presences leading up to and overlapping with the Crimean Khanate. The middle chapters, Crimea in the Russian Empire and Crimea in War and Revolution, do an especially admirable job of untangling the complex currents and forces at work in these time periods. The author also maintains his equilibrium through subsequent chapters that cover the delicate topics of World War II and the exile of the Crimean Tatars. The book ends with a chapter on in independent Ukraine.One of the greatest strengths of this book is its ability to strike a balance, achieving a degree of objectivity that is lacking in a great deal of the scholarship on Crimea. This is a particularly significant achievement, considering the extent to which, in the region, ethnic groups promote and disseminate separate and often diametrically opposed interpretation of the past. Magocsi avoids over-sympathizing with any of the groups, finding middle ground. The conventional tropes used in to keep groups separate are exposed. As one example, he provides evidence that the enmity between Slavic Christian Cossacks and Muslim Tatars was never as unbridgeable as it has been portrayed to be. Another example is that Empress Catherine II, often vilified as a colonizer, is depicted as rational, rather than callous or cruel. A little-known but important fact, one conveniently forgotten in today, is that the so-called Crimean Tatar battalions under the German command during World War II were comprised of men from multiple ethnic groups.Another contribution of this book is the stunning variety of visual materials to support the text. In addition to some superlative maps, there are exquisite photographs. Where pictures are non-existent, Magocsi provides illuminating drawings and lithographs. …