'Georgia is not just an awkward little "new" country to the south of the Caucasus. Jonathan Wheatley shows in his masterly analysis that its importance touches the geostrategic situation in the wider world; and he conveys to his readers the complex internal tensions that have produced the swirl of events in Tbilisi.' Robert Service, St Antony's College, University of Oxford, UK 'Nationalism and democracy have had an uncertain relationship historically - and nowhere more so than in the remnants of the former Soviet Union...In an extraordinarily detailed and comprehensive analysis of this little-known case, Wheatley succeeds in bringing it within the fold of comparative democratization studies, up to and including its recent "Rose Revolution". I recommend this book not only to specialists on post-communism, but also to scholars and students of nationalism and democracy elsewhere.' Philippe C. Schmitter, European University Institute, Italy 'Jonathan Wheatley...ably tells the story of social and ethinic upheaval that brought down the Communists...This is the best and most complete narrative we have of the turbulent and often confusing events that did anything but lead to a stable democratic state...Conversant with current thinking in political science and sensitive to the nuances and textures of Georgian politics, Wheatley has written an invaluable fuide to that ill-fated country's recent past.' The Russian Review '...Wheatley is very knowledgeable about Georgia. He has done detailed research in newspapers, including Georgian ones, interviewed many of th eparticipants, and writes a splended final chapter on the Rose Revolution that is the best analysis we have yet...the book provides an excellent overview of Georgia since independence and fills an importnat gap for students and scholars.' Slavic Review 'There are very few monographs dedicated to post-Soviet Georgia. This work therefore fills an evident gap, even more so because, centred as it is on questions of internal politics, it stands out clearly against the several existing studies that are generally oriented towards questions of security...The volume is remarkably well documented and rich in information and highly-precise factual data...it will be food for thought for any observer of Georgian politics...[The author] achieves a remarkable synthesis of information available in English - including translations from the Georgian press - and achieves a particularly stimulating analysis based on these sources...[it is] a stimulating work which sheds much useful light on the subject...' Cahiers du Monde Russe 'Overall, this is a valuable source of depressing facts on Georgia in the late-Soviet/early independent years.' Slavonic and East European Review