title: Acknowledgements
abstract: The present handbook is the resultofal ong process of collective reflection and cooperation between various researchers and authors.Ad ecisivemoment was an international workshop that took place in February 2020 in Vienna, wheres everal handbook authors and researchers workingo nt he history and cultureo ft he Black Sea region convened and discussed diverse topics relatingtothe Black Sea as ahistorical meso-region.The input of the workshop participants and further researchers involved in the pro