The Literature of Georgia: A History, by Donald Rayfield

Across the ages, Georgia has joined the great civilizations of north and south as much as east and west. Despite prolonged subjection to Byzantine, Iranian and Russian overlords for more than fifteen hundred years, its literary language has evolved to produce a broad corpus of literature that has given rise to such extraordinary works as The Knight in the Panther's Skin, to poets of genius and originality such as the anonymous hymnographers of Byzantine times or, in modern times, the great nineteenth century luminary Ilia Chavchavadze and major twentieth century poets such as Vazha Pshaevla and Galaktion Tabidze. 

This is the first comprehensive and objective history of the literature of Georgia, revealed to be unique among those of the former Byzantine and Russian empires, both in its quality and its 1500 years' history. It is examined in the context of the extraordinarily diverse influences which affected it – from Greek and Persian to Russian and modern European literature, and the folklore of the Caucasus. 

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