Black Garden

Since its publication in 2003, Black Garden has become the definitive study of how Armenia and Azerbaijan were pulled into a conflict that helped bring them to independence and plunged a region of great strategic importance into turmoil. This important volume is both a careful reconstruction of the history of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict since 1988 and on-the-spot reporting of the convoluted aftermath.

Based on six months traveling through the region, more than 120 original interviews in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moscow, and Washington, and unique historical primary sources, Thomas de Waal offers a complex and subtle portrait of a beautiful and fascinating region, blighted by historical prejudice and conflict. The book provides a detailed account of how the conflict lay unresolved in the Soviet era, how Armenian and Azerbaijani societies unfroze it, and how the international community failed to sort out the conflict.

Part contemporary history, part travel book, and part political analysis, Black Garden is a thought-provoking exploration of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and its ongoing impact on the region. This revised and updated 10th year anniversary edition offers a deeper understanding of this complex and often overlooked region.