About the book: 2017 / The book by British journalist, specialist in Eastern Europe and Russia Neil Asherson about the Black Sea, first published in 1995, is dedicated to one of those places on Earth that are rightly called the “cradle of civilization.” The subject of the author's attention was the rich cultural and political history of the Black Sea area from antiquity to the present day, including events during the collapse of the USSR. The history of the Black Sea is not over, and Asherson’s book fascinatingly describes its most unexpected and dramatic turns.