Tracks Across the Caucasus
How Armenia's Railways Became a Battlefield for Russian and Western Power

About this book:

For over a century, the steel ribs of Armenia’s railway network have done more than carry cargo—they have carried the weight of empires. *Tracks Across the Caucasus* reveals how a landlocked nation’s iron arteries became the ultimate prize in a relentless tug-of-war between Moscow and the West. From the Tsarist push toward the Persian border to the Soviet consolidation that turned tracks into instruments of total control, this is the untold history of how infrastructure became destiny in one of the world’s most volatile borderlands.

The narrative accelerates through the ruptures of revolution, the desperate logistics of WWII, and the catastrophic isolation following the Soviet collapse—when blockades turned vital lifelines into rusting relics. You will witness the high-stakes drama of the post-Soviet era: Russia’s controversial return via concession agreements, the ambitious dream of an Iran-Armenia corridor, and the European Union’s strategic overtures to rewire the region’s connectivity. Every chapter exposes a new layer of the geopolitical chess match where gauges, gradients, and concessions are the currency of sovereignty.

As the dust settles from the Second Karabakh War, a new flashpoint emerges: the Zangezur Corridor—a proposed link that could redraw the map of the South Caucasus or shatter Armenia’s fragile independence. Meticulously researched and grippingly told, *Tracks Across the Caucasus* is the definitive account of a nation fighting to stay on the map, one kilometer of track at a time. For anyone seeking to understand the modern struggle for the Silk Road’s future, the journey starts here.