E-Books →History of Crimea, A From Antiquity to the Present

Kerstin S. Jobst examines the complex history of multi-ethnic and pluri-religious Crimea - not only from a political perspective, but also considering the manifold cultural and historical interdependencies that are central to the territory. The book examines myths and legends about Crimea, as well as the various peoples for whom it has been a settlement and transit area and who have shaped the fate of the peninsula: Greek, Genoese and Venetian colonists, Eurasian nomads, Crimean Tatars, Germans, Russians, Ukrainians and others. A History of Crimea shows the importance of Crimea as a site of early Christianity, but also as a contact zone between different religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It also emphasizes the role of the peninsula as a peripheral space of various great powers - the Roman Empire, Byzantium, the Golden Horde, the "Third Reich" and the Ottoman, Russian and Soviet empires.
With this detailed overview of 2,000 years of Crimea's history, Kerstin S. Jobst debunks the narratives around the most recent explosive events in the peninsula by examining the full historical context. In doing so, she de-mythologizes simplified claims to historical legitimacy that, rooted in Russian emotional attachment and geopolitical ambitions, ignore the cultural complexities of the previous centuries. This important work thus rebalances skewed narratives that continue to prevail even among seasoned observers of developments in Crimea.