Manning examines the formation of nineteenth century intelligentsia print publics in the former Soviet republic of Georgia both anthropologically and historically At once somehow part of Europe at least aspirationally and yet rarely recognized by others as such Georgia attempted to forge European style publics as a strong claim to European identity These attempts also produced a crisis of self defi nition as European Georgia sent newspaper correspondents into newly reconquered Oriental Georgia only to discover that the people of these lands were strangers In this encounter the community of strangers of European Georgian publics proved unable to assimilate the people of the strange land of Oriental Georgia This crisis produced both notions of Georgian public life and European identity which this book explores