Along the Trenches

Navid Kermani is a writer and scholar who lives in Cologne, Germany. He has received numerous accolades for his literary and academic work, including the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Publishers’ Association, Germany’s most prestigious cultural award.

"Along the Trenches is an important and timely book, reminding us of the complex cultural and communal currents that have always flowed from Isfahan to Cologne and beyond, enriching along the way the lives of everyone they touch."—John Burnside, University of St Andrews"A book so moving and so powerful that it's worth taking 54 days over it, so that each day you can immerse yourself in a new world."—Katja Weise, NDR Kultur"Kermani has succeeded in writing a stirring plea for Europe, one which confirms his place among the ranks of Germany's most influential intellectuals."—Rainer Hermann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"A Herodotus for our times."—Philipp Holstein, Rheinische Post"A breathtaking travel diary and a passionate plea for the diversity of cultures, for Europe and the beauty of stories."—Bayrischer Rundfunk"On almost every page there is something for the reader to think about, to learn, to marvel at."—Tages-Anzeiger"Navid Kermani ... is the best kind of scholar: one who writes with a touch as elegant as it is light."—Catholic Herald"... revealing and thought-provoking...."—Financial Times

• ContentsCologneFirst Day: SchwerinSecond Day: From Berlin to Wroc awThird Day: AuschwitzFourth Day: CracowFifth Day: From Cracow to WarsawSixth Day: WarsawSeventh Day: WarsawEighth Day: From Warsaw to MasuriaNinth Day: KaunasTenth Day: Vilnius and VicinityEleventh Day: Via Paneriai to MinskTwelfth Day: Minsk and KhatynThirteenth Day: Into the Chernobyl Exclusion ZoneFourteenth Day: Kurapaty and MinskFifteenth Day: Into the Exclusion Zone East of KrasnapolleSixteenth Day: From Minsk to KievSeventeenth Day: KievEighteenth Day: From Kiev to Dnipro Nineteenth Day: To the Front in DonbasTwentieth Day: Via Mariupol to the Black SeaTwenty-first Day: Along the Black Sea to OdessaTwenty-second Day: OdessaTwenty-third Day: Leaving Odessa by AirTwenty-fourth Day: Via Moscow to SimferopolTwenty-fifth Day: Via Bakhtshyssarai to SevastopolTwenty-sixth Day: Along the Crimean CoastTwenty-seventh Day: From Crimea to the Russian MainlandTwenty-eighth Day: To KrasnodarTwenty-ninth Day: From Krasnodar to GroznyThirtieth Day: GroznyThirty-first Day: In the Chechen MountainsThirty-second Day: From Grozny to TbilisiThirty-third Day: TbilisiThirty-fourth Day: TbilisiThirty-fifth Day: To Gori and the Georgian-Ossetian Cease-fire LineThirty-sixth Day: From Tbilisi to KakhetiThirty-seventh Day: From Kakheti to AzerbaijanThirty-eighth Day: Along the Azeri-Armenian Cease-fire LineThirty-ninth Day: By Night Train to BakuFortieth Day: BakuForty-first Day: Baku and QobustanForty-second Day: Leaving Baku by AirForty-third Day: YerevanForty-fourth Day: YerevanForty-fifth Day: To Lake Sevan and On to Nagorno-KarabakhForty-sixth Day: Through Nagorno-KarabakhForty-seventh Day: To the Armenian-Azeri Cease-fire Line and On to IranForty-eighth Day: Via Jolfa to TabrizForty-ninth Day: Via Ahmadabad to Alamut CastleFiftieth Day: To the Caspian Sea and On to TehranFifty-first Day: TehranFifty-second Day: TehranFifty-third Day: TehranFifty-fourth Day: Flying Out of TehranWith Family in IsfahanThe Journey BeginsAcknowledgementsBibliography