{"title":"Jens Mühling","description":"\u003cp\u003eJens Mühling is a renowned travel writer whose works elegantly blend exploration with narrative insight, offering readers a fascinating journey through lands both familiar and mysterious. His writings often dive deep into the cultural, historical, and socio-political layers of the places he explores, making them more than just simple travelogues.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmong his captivating works is \u003cem\u003eBlack Earth\u003c\/em\u003e, a profound exploration of Ukraine—a country often spoken about but rarely understood in its complexity. In this book, Mühling delves into the diverse stories of its people, crafting a narrative that reveals the true essence of the nation. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEqually engaging is \u003cem\u003eTroubled Water\u003c\/em\u003e, where Mühling embarks on a journey along the Danube River. This journey takes the reader through the heart of Central and Eastern Europe, unfolding tales from the multi-layered pasts and presents of the river's neighbouring countries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMühling's works are more than travel guides; they invite readers on a thoughtful exploration of places where history and modernity intersect, prompting deeper reflection and understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"troubled-water-by-jens-muhling-9781914982019","title":"Troubled Water","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTroubled Water\u003c\/em\u003e is a history of the countries bordering the Black Sea, told through the stories of the people who live there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFringing the Black Sea is a diverse array of countries, some centuries old and others emerging only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jens Mühling travels through this region, telling the stories of the people he meets along the way to paint a picture of the mix of cultures found here and to understand the present against a history stretching back to the arrival of Ancient Greek settlers and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA fluent Russian speaker with a knack for gaining the trust of those he meets, Mühling brings together a cast of characters as diverse as the stories he hears, all of whom are willing to tell him their complex, contradictory, and often fantastical tales full of grief and legend. He meets descendants of the so-called Pontic Greeks, whom Stalin deported to Central Asia and who have now returned; Circassians who fled to Syria a century ago and whose great-great-grandchildren have returned to Abkhazia; and members of ethnic minorities like the Georgian Mingrelians or Bulgarian Muslims, expelled to Turkey in the summer of 1989. Mühling captures the region’s uneasy alliance of tradition and modernity and the diverse humanity of those who live there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46833798840556,"sku":"9781914982019","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/22488683482869.jpg?v=1758482218"},{"product_id":"black-earth-by-jens-muhling-9781914982002","title":"Black Earth","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn in-depth exploration of Ukraine through encounters with the many different people who live there.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Will someone pay for the spilled blood? No. Nobody.\" Mikhail Bulgakov composed this ominous and prophetic phrase in Kiev amid the turmoil of the Russian civil war. Since then, Ukrainian borders have shifted constantly, and its people have suffered numerous military foreign interventions. Ukraine has only existed as an independent state since 1991, and what exactly it was before then is controversial among its people as well as its European neighbours.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBlack Earth: A Journey through the Ukraine\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist and celebrated travel writer Jens Mühling takes readers across the country amid the ousting of former president Viktor Yanukovych and the Russian annexation of Crimea. Mühling delves deep into daily life in Ukraine, narrating his encounters with Ukrainian nationalists and old communists, Crimean Tatars and Cossacks, smugglers, and soldiers. \u003ci\u003eBlack Earth\u003c\/i\u003e connects all these stories to convey an unconventional and unfiltered view of Ukraine, a country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and the centre of countless conflicts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this paperback edition, a new preface is included that takes into account recent developments up to the 2022 war between Russia and Ukraine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072139149548,"sku":"9781914982002","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/22488513482869.jpg?v=1765080940"},{"product_id":"troubled-water-by-jens-muhling-9781913368265","title":"Troubled Water","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTroubled Water\u003c\/em\u003e by Jens Mühling is a history of the countries bordering the Black Sea, told through the stories of the people who live there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFringing the Black Sea is a diverse array of countries, some centuries old and others emerging only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Jens Mühling travels through this region, telling the stories of people he meets along the way in order to paint a picture of the mix of cultures found here and to understand the present against a history stretching back to the arrival of Ancient Greek settlers and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA fluent Russian speaker with a knack for gaining the trust of those he meets, Mühling brings together a cast of characters as diverse as the stories he hears, all of whom are willing to tell him their complex, contradictory, and often fantastical tales full of grief and legend. He meets descendants of the so-called Pontic Greeks, whom Stalin deported to Central Asia and who have now returned; Circassians who fled to Syria a century ago and whose great-great-grandchildren have returned to Abkhazia; and members of ethnic minorities like the Georgian Mingrelians or Bulgarian Muslims, expelled to Turkey in the summer of 1989. Mühling captures the region’s uneasy alliance of tradition and modernity and the diverse humanity of those who live there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072389660908,"sku":"9781913368265","price":56.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/6351143482869.jpg?v=1765101116"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/jens-muhling.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}