Situated in the breathtaking Caucasus Mountains between the Black and the Caspian Seas, the country of Georgia sits at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; it has gone through more turbulence and change in the last 15 years-the casting off of the Soviet regime, a civil war, two ethno-territorial conflicts, economic collapse, corruption, government inefficiency, and massive emigration-than most countries go through in 150 years. However, despite all its hardships, this resilient and ancient country, with thousands of years of winemaking, three-thousand years of statehood, and almost two millennia of Christianity, continues to survive, and with the new government's reforms, promises to improve. Scholar Alexander Mikaberidze has created an invaluable source on the long and turbulent history of Georgia. The Historical Dictionary of Georgia, through its chronology, glossary, introduction, appendixes, maps, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions and significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, traces Georgia's history and provides a compass for the direction the country is heading.