Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The Russian government is building a wall to cut off the Muslim provinces of the Caucasus from the rest of Russia.
The Mountain and the Wall
What you need to know before your trail
This novel portrays the influence of political intolerance and religious violence in the lives of people forced to choose between evils. The Mountain and the Wall focuses on Shamil, a young local reporter in Makhachkala, and his reactions, or lack thereof, to rumors that the Russian government is building a wall to cut off the Muslim provinces of the Caucasus from the rest of Russia.
As unrest spreads and the tension builds, Shamil’s life is turned upside down, and he can no longer afford to ignore the violence surrounding him. With a fine sense for mounting catastrophe, Alisa Ganieva tells the story of the decline of a society torn apart by its inherent extremes.
Travel Guide
Dagestan
From the author’s note:
Known as Land of the Mountains, it’s a republic in the southernmost portion of the Russian federation and is situated in the Northern Caucasus region, with Chechnya and Georgia to the west, Azerbaijan to the south , an the Caspain Sea to the east.
Russia formally annexed Dagestan in 1813 following an agreement with Iran, but the resistance against Russian rule, led by Dagestan’s Imam Shamil, among others, during the subsequent Caucasian War, forestalled Russia’s complete dominion until the 1870s.
Dagestan has been a centre of Islam Scholastics and culture since the Middle Ages; Muslims today account for more than 80 percent of the population.
The book imagines what it would be like to Russia were to construct a wall to insulate itself from the strife and turmoil of its Caucasian republics…
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Mountain and the Wall
Destination: Russia, Dagestan, Makhachkala , Caucasus region Author/Guide: Alisa Ganieva Departure Time: 2000s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
