Rieks Smeets' Circassia (1995) provides a comprehensive overview of the Circassian people, their language, historical homeland, and political development from the Russian conquest of the Caucasus to the post-Soviet period. Written by a leading Caucasian linguist and historian, the article examines the historical evolution of Circassian society while also analyzing the administrative fragmentation imposed during the Soviet era and the challenges facing the Circassian nation in the modern period.

Although the article is not exclusively devoted to the nineteenth-century Russian-Circassian War, it addresses several key aspects of Russian military rule in Circassia. Smeets describes the Russian conquest of the Northwest Caucasus, the forced mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Circassians to the Ottoman Empire, the colonization of their homeland by Slavic settlers, and the demographic transformation that followed. Most notably, he argues that the extermination of the Northwest Caucasians (Circassians) during the Russian colonial war, together with the expulsions and subsequent resettlement policies, deserves the designation of genocide.

Beyond its discussion of the nineteenth century, the article offers valuable insight into Soviet nationality policy, the division of the Circassian people into separate administrative units, language policy, demographic change, and the emergence of modern Circassian political movements. It is an important scholarly resource for researchers interested in Circassian history, Russian colonialism in the Caucasus, forced displacement, and the long-term political and cultural consequences of the Circassian Genocide.