This fascinating volume is a travel book framed as a school excursion across Central and Eastern Europe, and Turkey. Part of the “Zigzag Journeys” series, it tells the story of a class of boys and their two teachers, who make their way from Florence to St Petersburg, detouring on the way and stopping at Vienna, Constantinople, Bulgaria, Montenegro and other locations. On their travels they are educated on the history, geopolitics and culture on the various places; this book actually serves as a very good introduction to the issues of the day, such as the rise of Russia in the 19th century, the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, and the Great Game. Interspersed throughout the text are fun stories and folktales – many about dervishes – related by the teachers. The book is full of absolutely beautiful black-and-white engravings of the people and scenes.
Contents:
- A Curious Journey Proposed
- Stories about Constantinople
- The Eastern Question
- Mohammedan Worship
- Vienna and the Danube
- The Crusades
- The Story of Montenegro
- Bulgaria and the Dardanelles
- Constantinople
- The Black Sea
- Sebastopol
- The Cossacks
- Moscow
- Nijni Novgorod
- St Petersburg
- The Assassination of the Czar