{"title":"Central Asia","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-railway-by-hamid-ismailov","title":"The Railway by Hamid Ismailov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSet mainly in Uzbekistan between 1900 and 1980, \u003cem\u003eThe Railway\u003c\/em\u003e introduces to us the inhabitants of the small town of Gilas on the ancient Silk Route. Among those whose stories we hear are Mefody-Jurisprudence, the town's alcoholic intellectual; Father Ioann, a Russian priest; Kara-Musayev the Younger, the chief of police; and Umarali-Moneybags, the old moneylender. Their colourful lives offer a unique and comic picture of a little-known land populated by outgoing Mullahs, incoming Bolsheviks, and a plethora of Uzbeks, Russians, Persians, Jews, Koreans, Tatars and Gypsies.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt the heart of both the town and the novel stands the railway station - a source of income and influence, and a connection to the greater world beyond the town. Rich and picaresque, \u003cem\u003eThe Railway\u003c\/em\u003e chronicles the dramatic changes felt throughout Central Asia in the early twentieth century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":37530485489825,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/9780099466130_a1198e71-bdc6-4250-9405-d419c9012236.jpg?v=1610963899"},{"product_id":"sovietistan-by-erika-fatland","title":"Sovietistan by Erika Fatland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR EDWARD STANFORD\/LONELY PLANET DEBUT TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 2020\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A mesmerising trip across Central Asia [...] A fascinating travelogue\" - \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA journey through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAn unforgettable journey through the former Soviet Republics, by a prizewinning author of international reportage, Erika Fatland takes the reader on a journey that is unknown to even the most seasoned globetrotter. The five former Soviet Republics Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan all became independent when the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. How have these countries developed since then? In the Kyrgyzstani villages Erika Fatland meets victims of the widely known tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate Polygon in Kazakhstan where the Soviet Union tested explosions of nuclear bombs; she meets Chinese shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea and she witnesses the fall of a dictator.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe travels incognito through Turkmenistan, a country that is closed to journalists. She meets exhausted human rights activists in Kazakhstan, survivors from the massacre in Osh in 2010, and German Mennonites that found paradise on the Kyrgyzstani plains 200 years ago. During her travels, she observes how ancient customs clash with gas production and she witnesses the underlying conflicts between ethnic Russians and the majority in a country that is slowly building its future in nationalist colours.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn these countries, which used to be the furthest border of the Soviet Union, life follows another pace of time. Amidst the treasures of Samarkand and the bleakness of Soviet architecture, Erika Fatland moves with her openness towards the people and the landscapes around her. A rare and unforgettable travelogue.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTranslated from the Norwegian by \u003cstrong\u003eKari Dickson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41279863357601,"sku":"","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/hbg-title-9780857057747-36.jpg?v=1638026227"},{"product_id":"the-politics-of-unfree-labour-in-russia-by-mary-buckley","title":"The Politics of Unfree Labour in Russia By Mary Buckley","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow, and why, did human trafficking out of Russia escalate at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Why did some labour migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan find happy work situations in Russia whereas others became trapped in forced labour? This book focuses on human trafficking out of the Russian Federation since the collapse of the Soviet state and on labour migration into it from Central Asia, and on some internal movement. It looks at the socio-economic reasons behind labour flows and examines key social, political, legislative and policy responses. Discussion includes how the Russian press covers these topics and what politicians, experts and the public think about them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBased on interviews, polls and focus groups in Russia, this book is rich in original research which highlights different Russian perspectives on exploitation in unfree labour. It gives examples of entrapment in prostitution, construction work, on farms, and in begging rings.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41279995478177,"sku":"","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/9781108412704.jpg?v=1638035461"},{"product_id":"central-asia-in-art-from-soviet-orientalism-to-the-new-republics-by-aliya-abykayeva-tiesenhausen","title":"Central Asia in Art: From Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics by Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the midst of the space race and nuclear age, Soviet Realist artists were producing figurative oil paintings. Why? How was art produced to control and co-opt the peripheries of the Soviet Union, particularly Central Asia? Presenting the 'untold story' of Soviet Orientalism, Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen re-evaluates the imperial project of the Soviet state, placing the Orientalist undercurrent found within art and propaganda production in the USSR alongside the creation of new art forms in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the turmoil of the 1930s through to the post-Stalinist era, the author draws on meticulous new research and rich illustrations to examine the political and social structures in the Soviet Union - and particularly Soviet Central Asia - to establish vital connections between Socialist Realist visual art, the creation of Soviet identity and later nationalist sentiments.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41354820223137,"sku":"","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/CentralAsiainArt.jpg?v=1639581915"},{"product_id":"soviet-asia-by-robert-conte-and-stefano-perego","title":"Soviet Asia by Robert Conte and Stefano Perego","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSoviet Asia\u003c\/em\u003e explores the Soviet modernist architecture of Central Asia. Italian photographers Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego crossed the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, documenting buildings constructed from the 1950s until the fall of the USSR.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe resulting images showcase the majestic, largely unknown, modernist buildings of the region. Museums, housing complexes, universities, circuses, ritual palaces – all were constructed using a composite aesthetic. Influenced by Persian and Islamic architecture, pattern and mosaic motifs articulated a connection with Central Asia. Grey concrete slabs were juxtaposed with colourful tiling and rectilinear shapes broken by ornate curved forms: the brutal designs normally associated with Soviet-era architecture were reconstructed with Eastern characteristics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42548132315297,"sku":"","price":24.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/sovietasia.jpg?v=1663931687"},{"product_id":"manaschi-by-hamid-ismailov","title":"Manaschi by Hamid Ismailov","description":"\u003cp class=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA radio presenter interprets one of his dreams as an initiation by the world of spirits into the role of a Manaschi, a Kyrgyz bard and shaman who recites and performs the epic poem,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eManas\u003c\/em\u003e, and is revered as someone connected with supernatural forces. Travelling to his native mountainous village, populated by Tajiks and Kyrgyz, and unravelling his personal and national history, our hero Bekesh instead witnesses a full re-enactment of the epic’s wrath.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFollowing on from the award winning\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Devils' Dance\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOf Strangers and Bees\u003c\/em\u003e, this is the third and final book in Ismailov's informal Central Asia trilogy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTranslated by \u003cstrong\u003eDonald Rayfield\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42899256737953,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/Manaschi_Cover.jpg?v=1677073374"},{"product_id":"jamilia-by-chingiz-aitmatov","title":"Jamilia by Chingiz Aïtmatov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Punctuated by beautiful scenes of human kindness, wisdom, love and devotion, and set against the background of the stunning central Asian landscape\" – \u003cem\u003eThe \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJamilia’s husband is off fighting at the front. She spends her days hauling sacks of grain from the threshing floor to the train station in their small village, accompanied by Seit, her young brother-in-law, and Daniyar, a sullen newcomer to the village who has been wounded on the battlefield.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeit observes the beautiful, spirited Jamilia spurn men’s advances, and wince at the dispassionate letters she receives from her husband. Meanwhile, undeterred by Jamilia’s teasing, Daniyar sings as they return each evening from the fields. Soon Jamilia is in love, and she and Daniyar elope just as her husband returns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42980994252961,"sku":"","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/products\/Jamilia.webp?v=1681311514"},{"product_id":"film-and-identity-in-kazakhstan-soviet-and-post-soviet-culture-in-central-asia-by-rico-isaacs","title":"Film and Identity in Kazakhstan: Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture in Central Asia by Rico Isaacs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eCinema and nationalism are two fundamentally modern phenomena, but how have films shaped our understanding of the creation -the 'imagining' - of Central Asian nations? Here, Rico Isaacs uses cinema as an analytical lens to explore how the Kazakh national identity has been constructed and contested. Drawing on an analysis of Kazakh films from the last century, and featuring new interviews with directors and critics involved in the Central Asian film industry, his book traces the construction of nationalism within Kazakh cinema from the country's inception as a Soviet Republic to a modern independent nation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIsaacs identifies four narratives since the collapse of the Soviet Union: a warrior-like 'ethnic' narrative rooted in the 18th-century struggles against the Mongolian Oirat tribes; a 'civic' inspired narrative cemented in the Stalinist deportations of the 1930s and 1940s; a religious narrative founded within the mystic and philosophical religion of Tengrism and the cult of the Sky God; and a socio-economic narrative which roots Kazakh nationhood and identity in contemporary social divisions, the lived day-to-day experiences of ordinary citizens and the struggles they face with authority.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThese last two tropes demonstrate how cinema has emerged as a site of dissent against the country's authoritarian regime under President Nazarbayev. \u003cem\u003eFilm and Identity in Kazakhstan\u003c\/em\u003e advances our understanding of Kazakhstan and nationalism by demonstrating the multiple and inessential character of each, and illustrates the important role of cinema in contesting political power in the post-Soviet space.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43179763597473,"sku":"","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781350252295.jpg?v=1693480056"},{"product_id":"amanat-womens-writing-from-kazakhstan-edited-by-zaure-batayeva-and-shelley-fairweather-vega","title":"Amanat: Women's Writing from Kazakhstan edited by Zaure Batayeva and Shelley Fairweather-Vega","description":"\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDiverse in form and style, “Amanat” gathers 13 female Kazakhstani voices, revealing the lives, stories, and histories of a nation over the past 30 years. Through the 24 stories – translated from Kazakh and Russian – the collection explores nostalgia, politics and change, tracing struggles, joys and losses.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eA man is arrested for a single typo, a woman gets on buses at random, and two friends reunite in a changed world… \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eThe 24 stories in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmanat,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003etranslated into English from Kazakh and Russian,\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003ecomprise a groundbreaking survey of women’s writing in the Central Asian country over its thirty years of independence, paying homage to the rich but largely unrecorded oral storytelling tradition of the region. Contemplating nostalgia, politics, and intergenerational history in a time altered by modernity,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmanat\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eacutely traces the uncertainties, struggles, joys, and losses of a corner of the post-Soviet world often unseen and overlooked.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eUtterly absorbing,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmanat\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eis an invitation to listen—the women of Kazakhstan have stories to tell.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43213582401697,"sku":"","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/6109X-kTUDL._AC_UF894_1000_QL80.jpg?v=1694601181"},{"product_id":"punk-orientalism-the-art-of-rebellion-by-sara-raza","title":"Punk Orientalism: The Art of Rebellion by Sara Raza","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePunk Orientalism: The Art of Rebellion\u003c\/em\u003e explores the spaces and places associated with the former Soviet Union, focusing on the artists and ideas hailing from Central Asia and the Caucasus, which were long perceived as an extension or \"client\" states of the USSR. The theme of non-conformity and the punk rejection of state authority is a continuous thread throughout the book, which highlights changing and divided societies and their evolving norms in the post-Soviet period. Inspired by the titular concepts, punk and orientalism, the text functions as a form of bricolage, uniting punk movements and strategies, which can be traced in popular visual culture from the 1970s onwards.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe idea of punk is coupled with a critical study of orientalism and its historical association with imperialist assumptions of knowledge concerning the East. \u003cem\u003ePunk Orientalism\u003c\/em\u003e expands its association with this territory to explore former Soviet possessions in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as looking at the USSR's complex relationship with the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. Thematically organised, \u003cem\u003ePunk Orientalism\u003c\/em\u003e presents a thoroughly researched and fascinating selection of contemporary art from a complex and multifaceted part of the globe, featuring diverse artists such as Lida Abdul, Babi Badalov, Taus Makhacheva and Erbossyn Meldibekov who have challenged state and academic policies, mapped new territories, and formed new artistic movements.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePunk Orientalism\u003c\/em\u003e examines history as a conduit for revisionist thinking and rebellion, appealing to those readers interested in revolutionary practices in contemporary art. This thought-provoking book highlights breaking free from the entrapment of imperialism and shines a light on one of the most under-researched regions in the contemporary art world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43695543517345,"sku":"","price":24.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781912165391.jpg?v=1705328896"},{"product_id":"beginning-in-the-middle-conversations-on-the-post-soviet-edited-by-elsbeth-dekker-robbie-schweiger","title":"Beginning in the Middle: Conversations on the Post-Soviet edited by Elsbeth Dekker \u0026 Robbie Schweiger","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBeginning in the Middle\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eConversations on the Post-Soviet\u003c\/em\u003e, edited and compiled by Elsbeth Dekker and Robbie Schweiger, explores the works, lives and travels of artists coming from a (post-) Soviet context. The conversations delve deeper into questions of art and (de)colonisation in countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, most of which recently celebrated their 30th anniversary of independence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDeparting from Dutch collections and exhibitions, the conversations try to grapple with questions on the meaning and relationships that these artworks and artists are enabling. Touching upon various notions of time, space and perception, it wonders how to include other stories and voices into Dutch collections and Western stories of art. Three travelogues by Furqat Palvan-Zade take these conversations to another time and place – all the way across Eurasia and back to the Netherlands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIncluding interviews with Umida Akhmedova, Babi Badalov, Saodat Ismailova, Gulnara Kasmalieva \u0026amp; Muratbek Djumaliev, Taus Makhacheva, Yerbossyn Meldibekov, Almagul Menlibayeva, Maria Mkrtycheva, Furqat Palvan-Zade, Alexander Ugay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e'The artists showed us that their post-Soviet reality is never an either\/\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eor situation, it is not a monolith, but something fluid and subject to change. Adapting to circumstances; transcending territorial boundaries; exploring the archetypes, spaces in-between, ‘underwater’ processes, shapes of disrupted figures and pathways, and different passings of time without clear origins or futures.’\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e- Elsbeth Dekker, Robbie Schweiger\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43710815371425,"sku":"","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9789492852724-294x500.jpg?v=1705680411"},{"product_id":"ruyo-journal-issue-01","title":"Ruyò Journal Issue 01","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRuyò Journal is an artist-run platform dedicated to fostering critical discourse in the fields of arts, film and theory. Their goal is to contribute to Central Asian cultural discourse and strengthen its presence. By uniting a community of artists and intellectuals, Ruyò seeks to support cultural dialogues both within the region and on a global scale.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis is the inaugural edition of their journal in print, which addresses through essays and artworks the fundamental question: what does it mean to be Central Asian today?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDual language\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43787992400033,"sku":"","price":29.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/IMG_4902copy_JPG.webp?v=1707913027"},{"product_id":"unravelling-the-silk-road-travels-and-textiles-in-central-asia-by-chris-aslan","title":"Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia by Chris Aslan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThree textile roads weave through Central Asia: the Silk Road linking East and West, the Wool Road enabling nomads to brave harsh winters, and the Cotton Road, marked by greed and environmental disaster. In “Unravelling the Silk Road”, Chris Aslan unravels this history, blending human stories, trade, and his fifteen years of living in the region.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree textile roads tangle their way through Central Asia. The famous Silk Road united east and west through trade. Older still was the Wool Road, of critical importance when houses made from wool enabled nomads to traverse the inhospitable winter steppes. Then there was the Cotton Road, marked by greed, colonialism and environmental disaster. At this intersection of human history, fortunes were made and lost through shimmering silks, life-giving felts and gossamer cottons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChris Aslan, who has spent fifteen years living and working in the region, expertly unravels the strands of this tangled history and embroiders them with his own experiences of life in the heart of Asia.\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44654915748001,"sku":"","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/614LHmRrd6L._SL1000.jpg?v=1728063287"},{"product_id":"central-peripheries-nationhood-in-central-asia-by-marlene-laruelle","title":"Central Peripheries: Nationhood in Central Asia by Marlene Laruelle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘The presentation of the history of official narrative-formation and the debate around it as well as the challenges posed by the realities of today’s society is fascinating reading.’ \u003cem\u003eSlavic Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCentral Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. Although relative latecomers on the international scene, the Central Asian states see themselves as globalized, and yet in spite of – or perhaps precisely because of – this, they hold a very classical vision of the nation-state, rejecting the abolition of boundaries and the theory of the ‘death of the nation’. Their unabashed celebration of very classical nationhoods built on post-modern premises challenges the Western view of nationalism as a dying ideology that ought to have been transcended by post-national cosmopolitanism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarlene Laruelle looks at how states in the region have been navigating the construction of a nation in a post-imperial context where Russia remains the dominant power and cultural reference. She takes into consideration the ways in which the Soviet past has influenced the construction of national storylines, as well as the diversity of each state’s narratives and use of symbolic politics. Exploring state discourses, academic narratives and different forms of popular nationalist storytelling allows Laruelle to depict the complex construction of the national pantheon in the three decades since independence. The second half of the book focuses on Kazakhstan as the most hybrid national construction and a unique case study of nationhood in Eurasia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the principle that only multidisciplinarity can help us to untangle the puzzle of nationhood,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCentral Peripheries\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003euses mixed methods, combining political science, intellectual history, sociology and cultural anthropology. It is inspired by two decades of fieldwork in the region and a deep knowledge of the region’s academia and political environment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44654926594209,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781800080133-wpv_652x_535ebe2d-09e9-47cd-ad0a-38b1438ec421.jpg?v=1728064520"},{"product_id":"global-ikat-roots-and-routes-of-a-textile-technique-edited-by-rosemary-crill","title":"Global Ikat: Roots and Routes of a Textile Technique edited by Rosemary Crill","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDeceptively simple or fantastically intricate, ikat technique has been used for many centuries to create extravagant costumes and cloths of deep cultural meaning. The distinctively blurred, feathered or jagged patterns of ikat-dyed textiles are found across much of the world - from Japan in the east to Central and South America in the west, with vast areas of South-east Asia, India, Central Asia and the Middle East in between. The traditional patterns still hold cultural relevance today in significant parts of the long-established ikat-weaving areas.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTextile artists and fashion designers in many and varied countries have taken ikat in new directions, respecting traditional forms and palettes while creatively diverging from them. This is the first time all the different iterations of this textile have been comprehensively brought together in one volume, drawing from the wide-ranging collection of David Paly. It is a journey across the world through the lens of ikat.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44662102065313,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781898113904.jpg?v=1728575360"},{"product_id":"mothersland-by-shahzoda-samarqandi","title":"Mothersland by Shahzoda Samarqandi","description":"\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Shelley Fairweather-Vega\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"I don't remember exactly whether my youth ended, and then the USSR, or if it was the other way around.  But I do know that those two things are connected.  Now I'm left here between two truths: the truth of the land, and the truth of the sea.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis haunting novel by the world's leading Tajik-language novelist is a time-twisting reverie on the bond between mothers and daughters.  Growing up in late Soviet-era Uzbekistan, Mahtab feels more at home in the cotton field-and in the past, as depicted in her mother's diary-than at school, where the books in the library are rewritten with every new political trend. When a Russian film crew comes to town to make a movie about cotton, starring Mahtab in the role of her hero-worker mother, Mahtab suffers an accident that scrambles her memory.  As she struggles to recover, she must untangle her mother's story from her own, and navigate the hazy contours of memory, love, storytelling, and country to finally find herself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"In \u003cem\u003eMothersland\u003c\/em\u003e, Shahzoda Samarqandi, the award-winning Tajik activist, poet and novelist from Uzbekistan, subverts a deeply-rooted metaphorical system in Persian literary culture: the land as woman. A socially entrenched metaphor that has framed conquest as male and the conquered as female becomes upended in Samarqandi's lyrical and powerful account of life at a moment of ecological and imperial collapse. One of the first climate novels composed in Tajik Persian, \u003cem\u003eMothersland\u003c\/em\u003e is now available in Shelley Fairweather-Vega's bright and engaging English translation. Shahzoda Samarqandi is a crucial voice in our world today.\" \u003c\/span\u003e-Aria Fani, assistant professor of Persian and Iranian studies at the University of Washington in Seattle and co-investigator of the Translation Studies Hub at the University of Washington\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55051968414074,"sku":"","price":15.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780893575274__26510.jpg?v=1739542545"},{"product_id":"central-asia-a-new-history-from-the-imperial-conquests-to-the-present-by-adeeb-khalid-1","title":"Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present by Adeeb Khalid","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA major history of Central Asia and how it has been shaped by modern world events. Central Asia is often seen as a remote and inaccessible land on the peripheries of modern history. Encompassing Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Xinjiang province of China, it in fact stands at the crossroads of world events. Adeeb Khalid provides the first comprehensive history of Central Asia from the mid-eighteenth century to today, shedding light on the historical forces that have shaped the region under imperial and Communist rule.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePredominantly Muslim with both nomadic and settled populations, the peoples of Central Asia came under Russian and Chinese rule after the 1700s. Khalid shows how foreign conquest knit Central Asians into global exchanges of goods and ideas and forged greater connections to the wider world. He explores how the Qing and Tsarist empires dealt with ethnic heterogeneity, and compares Soviet and Chinese Communist attempts at managing national and cultural difference.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHe highlights the deep interconnections between the \"Russian\" and \"Chinese\" parts of Central Asia that endure to this day, and demonstrates how Xinjiang remains an integral part of Central Asia despite its fraught and traumatic relationship with contemporary China. The essential history of one of the most diverse and culturally vibrant regions on the planet, this panoramic book reveals how Central Asia has been profoundly shaped by the forces of modernity, from colonialism and social revolution to nationalism, state-led modernisation, and social engineering.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55157360427386,"sku":"","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780691235196_ce57f22a-3bdd-489d-bf21-7e59d0fcb230.jpg?v=1742302541"},{"product_id":"uyghur-poems-edited-and-translated-by-aziz-isa-elkun","title":"Uyghur Poems, edited and translated by Aziz Isa Elkun","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Uyghur people of Central Asia have a long and distinguished tradition of poetry - indeed, their first oral epic was circulating as early as the 2nd century BCE. In the medieval period Sufi poetry flourished, embracing Persian forms such as the ghazal, which spoke eloquently of beauty, love, loss and separation. A major poet, Alshir Navayi (1441­-1501) fully established classical Turkic or Chagatai as a perfect vehicle for poetic expression. Some contemporary poets continue to find inspiration within the traditional forms, while others experiment with a freer style of verse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUyghur poetry reflects the magnificent natural landscapes where the Uyghurs have lived for two millennia - endless steppes, soaring mountain ranges and mysterious deserts, crossed by the historic Silk Road. It is also shaped by their turbulent past, caught between warring empires or marauding warlords - and their deeply troubled present.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Uyghurs form a minority in China, where the government is now making a systematic attempt to erase their language and culture. Many intellectuals have been imprisoned, and many poets are now writing from exile, including the editor and translator of this volume, Aziz Isa Elkun, who lives in London. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eUyghur Poems\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is not only a celebration of an ancient and vibrant poetic tradition, but also a vital witness to a culture under threat.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55877611946362,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781841598307-jacket-large.webp?v=1757415788"},{"product_id":"the-new-silk-roads-the-present-and-future-of-the-world-by-peter-frankopan","title":"The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World by Peter Frankopan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Masterly mapping out of a new world order’ - \u003cem\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Frankopan is a brilliant guide to terra incognita' - \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom the internationally bestselling author of The Silk Roads: everything you need to know about the present and future of the world.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePeter Frankopan's highly anticipated follow-up to the 'Book of the Decade', \u003cem\u003eThe New Silk Roads\u003c\/em\u003e takes a fresh look at the network of relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the Silk Roads today. The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties have been strengthened and mutual cooperation established. Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East,\u003cem\u003e The New Silk Roads \u003c\/em\u003eprovides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this prescient contemporary history, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of these continual shifts in the centre of power – all too often absent from headlines in the west. This important – and ultimately hopeful – book asks us to reread who we are and where we are in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55877693931898,"sku":null,"price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781526608246.jpg?v=1757417745"},{"product_id":"the-silk-roads-a-new-history-of-the-world-by-peter-frankopan","title":"The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in the west - in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia deep into China and India, is taking centre stage in international politics, commerce and culture - and is shaping the modern world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis region, the true centre of the earth, is obscure to many in the English-speaking world. Yet this is where civilisation itself began, where the world's great religions were born and took root. The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlong them flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. This was where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Silk Roads are rising again. A major reassessment of world history, \u003cem\u003eThe Silk Roads\u003c\/em\u003e is an important account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55877694980474,"sku":null,"price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781408839997.jpg?v=1757417876"},{"product_id":"castigation-by-sultan-raev","title":"Castigation by Sultan Raev","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"container_16 clearfix\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"grid_16 product\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productInfo\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productContentWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productContent\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDescription\"\u003eSeven escaped mental patients \u003cspan\u003e– \u003c\/span\u003eincluding reincarnations of Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great \u003cspan\u003e– \u003c\/span\u003etrudge across a nameless landscape, pursued by an omnipresent snake and haunted by their past lives’ brutal transgressions. Led by a mysterious Emperor who promises deliverance to the Holy Land, these travellers are actually pilgrims of their own fractured histories, each confronting the violent, sensual, and deeply human moments that have defined their existence. Blending elements of Central Asian epic tradition with surrealist storytelling, Sultan Raev crafts a novel that is at once a scathing critique of power, a meditation on historical violence, and a darkly comic exploration of collective memory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe narrative weaves between present-day desert wanderings and vivid historical reconstructions, challenging readers’ understanding of identity, punishment, and spiritual transformation. Snakes slither through personal and collective histories; eclipses mark moments of existential revelation; and the line between madness and profound insight becomes provocatively blurred. Winner of Kazakhstan’s 2014 \u003cem\u003eNovel of the Year\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCastigation\u003c\/em\u003e offers a stunning meditation on humanity’s capacity for both destruction and transcendence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003clabel\u003e\u003c\/label\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDescription\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productDescription\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55999917556090,"sku":null,"price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780815611936.jpg?v=1759924888"},{"product_id":"reorientalism-from-avant-garde-to-soviet-national-form-by-nariman-skakov","title":"Reorientalism: From Avant-Garde to Soviet National Form by Nariman Skakov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is commonly believed that Stalinism ended a vibrant period in Soviet avant-garde art and literature. The triumph of socialist realism, in this view, curtailed experimentation with aesthetic form and replaced it with a call for clarity, accessibility, and ideological conformity. But Stalin’s formula “national in form, socialist in content” gave artists an opening for officially sanctioned formal innovation – as long as it drew on the national cultures of the Soviet Union.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNariman Skakov offers a new way to understand Soviet modernism, showing how writers and artists looked to the East to renew avant-garde experimentalism under Stalin. He traces how figures such as Victor Shklovsky, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Dziga Vertov, and Sergei Eisenstein responded to the Soviet state’s ideological demands by engaging with the traditions of the new socialist republics in Central Asia. The concept of national form gave these artists a sanctuary for aesthetic innovation, yet this experimentation relied on exoticisation of the “strangeness” of the Soviet East and a fascination with ethnic others.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRecasting Soviet aesthetics from the vantage point of Central Asia, Skakov rethinks orientalism and its relationship to socialism. Challenging conventional narratives of the fate of the Soviet avant-garde, \u003cem\u003eReorientalism\u003c\/em\u003e provides a deeply original decentring of modernism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56008206909818,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780231562027.jpg?v=1760106187"},{"product_id":"dark-shadows-inside-the-secret-world-of-kazakhstan-by-joanna-lillis","title":"Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan by Joanna Lillis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-1b4ac064-7fff-3eb1-4848-ae1bc8cf2fda\"\u003eIn “Dark Shadows”, Joanna Lillis unveils the hidden heart of Kazakhstan – a vast, oil-rich nation caught between Russia and China. With over a decade of on‑the‑ground journalistic experience, she traces a landscape of corruption, power and exile, revealing how one man’s ruthless rule reshaped a fragile post‑Soviet society into a modern monocracy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eDark Shadows\u003c\/em\u003e is a compelling portrait of Kazakhstan, a country that is little known in the West. Strategically located in the heart of Central Asia, sandwiched between Vladimir Putin’s Russia, its former colonial ruler, and Xi Jinping’s China, this vast oil-rich state is carving out its place in the world as it contends with its own complex past and present. Journalist Joanna Lillis paints a vibrant picture of this emerging nation through vivid reportage based on 17 years of on-the-ground coverage, and travels across the length and breadth of this enigmatic country that lies along the ancient Silk Road and at the geopolitical and cultural crossroads where East meets West.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFeaturing tales of murder and abduction, intrigue and betrayal, extortion and corruption, this book explores how a president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, transformed himself into a potentate and the economically-struggling state he inherited at the fall of the USSR into a swaggering 21st-century monocracy. A colourful cast of characters brings the politics to life: from strutting oligarchs to sleeping villagers, from principled politicians to striking oilmen, from crusading journalists to courageous campaigners. This new edition features two additional chapters covering the aftermath of Nazarbayev's fall from power in 2019; the Chinese government's repressions against the Kazakhs of Xinjiang as part of its crackdown on Muslim minorities; and an Afterword reflecting on the tumultuous events of January 2022 in Almaty.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTraversing dust-blown deserts and majestic mountains, taking in glitzy cities and dystopian landscapes, \u003cem\u003eDark Shadows\u003c\/em\u003e conjures up Kazakhstan as a living, breathing place, full of extraordinary people living extraordinary lives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56136210055546,"sku":null,"price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780755626694.jpg?v=1762348260"},{"product_id":"silk-mirage-through-the-looking-glass-in-uzbekistan-by-joanna-lillis","title":"Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan by Joanna Lillis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Silk Mirage” by Joanna Lillis journeys into the heart of Uzbekistan – a jewel of the Silk Road and now a battleground between reformers and reactionaries. One of the only Western journalists with access to Uzbekistan, Lillis chronicles the legacy of dictatorship and the hope of the “Uzbek Spring,” through the lives of ordinary people.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eSilk Mirage \u003c\/em\u003eis a compelling portrait of Uzbekistan, a country at the heart of the ancient Silk Road and now the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of this strategic land in Central Asia. In 2016, the long-ruling dictator Islam Karimov – one of the last Soviet-era strongmen – died, sparking a period of transformation under his successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which became known as the ‘Uzbek Spring’. But, as investigative journalist Joanna Lillis shows, spring has struggled to break through in one of the world’s most repressive and totalitarian states.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs one of the few western journalists with access to Uzbekistan and with over two decades of experience covering the country, Lillis travels deep into the heart of the Karimov regime, portraying all the excesses and atrocities that made it such a brutal dictatorship. She also penetrates the system that replaced it, exploring how life has changed for Uzbeks under Mirziyoyev’s rule – and how it has not. A tale of both reform and repression, this book illustrates the challenges of dragging a country out of dictatorship.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLillis explores Uzbekistan’s politics, economics, history, arts and culture – and asks where the country stands nearly a decade after the death of its dictator, and 600 years since its ancient capital Samarkand was the centre of the world’s trade network. Lillis weaves in the extraordinary stories of ordinary people: from politicians to former political prisoners, from journalists to human rights crusaders, from entrepreneurs to environmentalists, from artists to architects, from silk makers to carpet weavers. Conjuring up Uzbekistan as a place full of life and loss, \u003cem\u003eSilk Mirage\u003c\/em\u003e tells the stories of courageous people who probe to find the cracks in an authoritarian regime through which the light gets in.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56139786027386,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781350292468.jpg?v=1762430318"},{"product_id":"farewell-to-russia-a-journey-through-the-former-ussr-by-joe-luc-barnes","title":"Farewell to Russia: A Journey Through the Former USSR by Joe Luc Barnes","description":"\u003cp\u003eThey might have said goodbye to the USSR – but can they ever say farewell to Russia? Snow, concrete, the KGB: that’s the \u003cspan\u003ecliché\u003c\/span\u003e of the Soviet Union. But its collapse in 1991 sparked a story at once messier and more compelling than any stereotype. Thirty-five years on, Moscow may brim with champagne bars and blacked-out Mercedes – but what became of the other fourteen states that emerged from the ashes? In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Joe Luc Barnes crossed the former USSR to find out, from the gleaming towers of Azerbaijan to the former gulags of Kazakhstan, tech-hungry Estonia to the minarets of Uzbekistan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlong the way, he finds epic mountains, cobblestoned old towns and storied Silk Road cities – not to mention Georgian wine, Armenian brandy and vodka in industrial supply.  Travelling thousands of miles, he gathers a chorus of voices: nomads in mountain yurts, TikTok-fuelled activists, small-town taxi drivers and many who still look uneasily over their shoulder for the secret police. With insight, empathy and a healthy dose of mordant wit, he asks what has happened – and why – to the people and their hopes and dreams since the great promise of independence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e By turns hilarious, angry and heart-stopping, this is a darkly comic, deeply human portrait of a region the West still misunderstands – and a warning of what happens when empires break but the habits of empire refuse to die. If you loved \u003cem\u003eThe Silk Roads\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNothing to Envy\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003eThe Places in Between\u003c\/em\u003e, and have a soft spot for Bill Bryson, clear space on your shelf: this is the book for you. Joe Luc Barnes speaks fluent Russian and is one of the few people, if not the only person, to have visited all 15 former Soviet countries since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOffers essential insights into a restless region where Russia, China and the West all vie for dominance. Covers: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine – and, of course, Russia. \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56540271673722,"sku":null,"price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781783969401.jpg?v=1770207710"},{"product_id":"mother-of-the-world-the-remarkable-history-of-turkmenistan-by-olivier-hein","title":"Mother of the World: The Remarkable History of Turkmenistan by Olivier Hein","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eReclaiming Turkmenistan from the margins of global attention, Hein offers a lively history of the ‘Mother of the World’ and its people. These days, it’s rare for news items to come out of Turkmenistan. It can be easy for us to assume that the country was always isolated, quirky or even irrelevant.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut its real history paints a wildly different picture. Turkmenistan’s desert-dominated landscape has been an unheralded flashpoint at many key moments in history, whether as an integral but misunderstood part of the Soviet Empire, or as a major strategic prize in the brutal invasions of Genghis Khan. Sat exactly where East met West, yet often aloof from both, Turkmenistan was a key crossroads on the Silk Road, and once hosted the largest city on Earth, which doubled up as one of the world’s great seats of learning.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt lays claim to conjuring up the world’s first monotheistic religion, and it may well have been one of the major players in that elusive turning point of history, the birth of civilisation – up there with Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. No other nation can claim all of this, yet Turkmenistan’s past has long remained hidden from our understanding. This is the extraordinary story of a starkly beautiful land, its unique culture, and the wonderful people who now call it home.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56881373938042,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781805265818.jpg?v=1778581527"},{"product_id":"backlash-china-s-struggle-for-influence-in-central-asia-by-bradley-jardine-and-edward-lemon","title":"Backlash: China’s Struggle for Influence in Central Asia by Bradley Jardine and Edward Lemon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"\u003c\/em\u003eBacklash \u003cem\u003echallenges the way we think about global security – and about whose voices have been left out of that conversation. This is not just a regional study – this is about global power, the politics of fear and the ways that justice, accountability and the rights of those most vulnerable can be silenced. An important and often unnerving book\u003c\/em\u003e\" – Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History, University of Oxford\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHow have Central Asians responded to China’s growing role in their countries? Can Beijing maintain its dominant position in an increasingly hostile region?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCentral Asia is at the forefront of China’s efforts to assert itself as a major world power. Since 1991, Beijing has emerged as the region’s main investor, creditor and trade partner, as well as an increasingly important security provider. But its growing influence has met opposition: in recent years, anti-China protests have erupted across Central Asia, threatening Beijing’s shaky regional hegemony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBradley Jardine and Edward Lemon examine how Central Asians are pushing back against China’s global ambitions, and trace Beijing’s attempts to manage its image and secure its interests in response. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork, \u003cem\u003eBacklash\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ereveals the uncertainties of China’s rise. Far from being the omnipotent strategist often depicted in international media, Beijing is making significant missteps, alienating local people and becoming entangled in costly interventions to protect its citizens and investments. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 undermined Moscow’s regional position, creating opportunities for China to expand its role. But to do so, it must contend with the agency of Central Asians themselves: their interests, policies and priorities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis incisive book exposes the unravelling of China’s alternative to the American-led global order, highlighting both elite and grassroots actors forcing Beijing to adapt its approach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266070520186,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781805263043.jpg?v=1789382854"},{"product_id":"a-poet-and-bin-laden-by-hamid-ismailov","title":"A Poet and Bin-Laden by Hamid Ismailov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A Poet and Bin-Laden\u003cem\u003e is a timely attempt at penning the history of post-Soviet Uzbekistan, where the book has been banned, and at examining the roots of Islamism. It is also a hymn to human civilisation struggling to break through the barriers of violence and hatred\u003c\/em\u003e\" – Anna Aslanyan, \u003cem\u003eThe National\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Poet and Bin-Laden\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a novel set in Central Asia at the turn of the twenty-first century against a swirling backdrop of Islamic fundamentalism in the Ferghana Valley and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story begins on the eve of 9\/11, with the narrator’s haunting description of the airplane attack on the Twin Towers as seen on TV while he is on holiday in Central Asia. Subsequent chapters shift backwards and forwards in time, but two main themes emerge: the rise of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan under the charismatic but reclusive leadership of Tahir Yuldash and Juma Namangani; and the main character, poet Belgi’s movement from the outer edge of the circle, from the mountains of Osh, into the inner sanctum of al-Qaeda, and ultimately to a meeting with Sheikh bin Laden himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis journey begins with a search for a Sufi spiritual master and ends in guerrilla warfare, and it is this tension between a transcendental and a violent response to oppression, between the book and the bomb, that gives the novel its specific poignancy. Along the way, Ismailov provides wonderfully vivid accounts of historical events (as witnessed by Belgi), such as the siege of Kunduz, the breakout from Shebergan prison – a kind of Afghan Guantanamo – and the insurgency in the Ferghana Valley.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266559451514,"sku":null,"price":20.3,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/A-Poet-and-Bin-Laden-by-Hamid-Ismailov-Cover.webp?v=1789392143"},{"product_id":"the-tale-of-aypi-by-ak-welsapar","title":"The Tale of Aypi by Ak Welsapar","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e“Often drawing on Turkmen folk tales, parables and allegories, his prose incorporates elements of magic realism. As such, Welsapar’s work hints at an escape into a metaphysical world, a magical world, where change is possible. An authorial warmth imbues his writing with the kind of hard-nosed optimism that is only arrived at after enduring great suffering” – The Calvert Journal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Tale of Aypi\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eholds a singular place in world literature: it is the first novel ever translated directly from Turkmen into English. Written by Ak Welsapar, a writer exiled and blacklisted in his native Turkmenistan since 1990, it won an English PEN Award and appears here in the translation of W.M. Coulson.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the shore of the Caspian Sea, a village of fishermen is ordered to abandon its ancestral home. Fishing, their livelihood, is banned; the land is wanted by the state. Most submit. One man, Araz, refuses, and stands alone against the authorities to fight for his native shore. Woven through his story is the older tale of Aypi, a village beauty put to death three centuries ago, whose wronged spirit now returns to take her revenge on the men who condemned her.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet in the final years of the Soviet era but speaking directly to the present, the novel binds folklore and political fable, the forces of nature and the machinery of power. “The writing is just amazing,” wrote one reviewer, “and it has a most beautiful ending, tragic, but highly appropriate.” A small, haunting masterpiece, and a rare window onto the literature of Central Asia in English translation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266573148538,"sku":null,"price":18.45,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/The-Tale-of-Aypi-by-Ak-Welsapar-Cover.webp?v=1789392428"},{"product_id":"death-of-the-snake-catcher-by-ak-welsapar","title":"Death of the Snake Catcher by Ak Welsapar","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book features people from one of the most closed countries of today’s world. This world has been recreated by a true-born son of that mysterious country, a Turkmen who, at the will of fate, has now been living for a quarter of a century in snowy Scandinavia. Is that not why two different worlds come together in “Ryazan Horseradish and Tula Gingerbread”, and come apart in “Love in Lilac”, in which a student from the non-free world falls in love with a girl from the West?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the story “Death of the Snake Catcher”, an old snake catcher meets one on one with a giant cobra in the heart of the desert. In the dialogue between them the author unveils the age-old interdependence of Man and untamed nature, where the fear and mistrust of the strong and the hopes and apprehensions of the weak change places but co-exist as ever. “Egyptian Night of Fear”, in which a boy goes to an Eastern bazaar and falls into the clutches of depraved forces, is created in the writer’s characteristic style of magical realism, while the novella “Altynai” celebrates first love, radiant and sad, pure as virgin snow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNow mythical, now lyrical, Welsapar’s characters face life’s injustice with a surprising optimism and fortitude. The intense colour not only of nature but of human feelings and relationships, is expressed by the author in striking, expressive language making the reader unable to close the book until the last page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266577965434,"sku":null,"price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/Death-of-the-Snake-Catcher-Cover.webp?v=1789392879"},{"product_id":"almaty-architectural-guide-by-edda-schlager","title":"Almaty: Architectural Guide by Edda Schlager","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor many centuries horse-riding peoples populated the steppes to the north of today’s Almaty and the green hills to the south, but the city itself – formerly known as ‘Alma-Ata’ – is not even 180 years old. Its initial development was closely linked to the expansion of the Russian Empire. Today Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis, a vibrant milieu where the encounter between different cultures is also reflected in the architecture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOrthodox cathedrals and mosques, Soviet Neoclassicism and monumental mosaic art, Brutalism and brand-new skyscrapers: this book presents more than 100 buildings from the past and pre­sent. Author Edda Schlager has spent two ­decades in Almaty, covering the transformation of the city and the ­country as a journalist for inter­national media. Critical essays by and interviews with local actors contribute to her broad, ­kaleidoscopic panorama of one of the most fas­cinating Central Asian metropolises.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57270765027706,"sku":null,"price":36.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/727-6_AGAlmaty_Cover_2D_rgb_1024x1024_7f6fdd41-6786-49d8-9bcf-901d1241963a.webp?v=1789478128"},{"product_id":"art-for-architecture-tashkent-toshkent-monumental-art-since-1953-by-fotima-abdurakhmanova","title":"Art for Architecture - Tashkent\/Toshkent: Monumental art since 1953 by Fotima Abdurakhmanova","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis meticulously researched guide explores the rich architectural heritage of the Uzbek capital through the captivating art of mosaics. Delve into the extraordinary legacy of Alexander, Nikolai, and Pyotr Jarsky, artists whose visionary work reshaped Tashkent's urban landscape after the devastating earthquake of 1966. Their innovative techniques gave rise to breathtaking mosaic-adorned facades, masterfully blending modernist design with intricate Islamic motifs while reflecting the region's cultural identity.This title offers an in-depth exploration of the artistry behind these vivid mosaics, spotlighting iconic works. Learn how artists like the Jarsky brothers, Vladimir Chub, Yakov Shapiro, Yury Zaitsev, and Irena Lipiene, among others, pioneered cost-effective yet aesthetically profound wall coverings, bas-reliefs, and lighting designs, leaving an enduring imprint on Tashkent's architectural fabric.As global conversations around heritage preservation and urban development gain momentum, the cultural and historical significance of these mosaic-rich structures is increasingly being recognised. This guide invites readers to celebrate Uzbekistan's artistic ingenuity and cultural heritage while advocating for their acknowledgement in the UNESCO World Heritage List.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57270855565690,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/IMG_4565.webp?v=1789480179"},{"product_id":"gaia-queen-of-ants-by-hamid-ismailov","title":"Gaia, Queen of Ants by Hamid Ismailov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom Uzbek author-in-exile Hamid Ismailov comes a dark new parable of power, corruption, fraud, and deception. Ismailov narrates an intimate clash of civilizations as he follows the lives of three expatriates living in England. Domrul is a young Turk with vague and painful memories of ethnic strife in the Uzbekistan of his childhood.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHis Irish girlfriend Emer struggles with her own adolescent trauma from growing up in war-torn Bosnia. Domrul is the caretaker for Gaia, the eighty-year-old, powerful wife of a Soviet party boss with a mysterious past. One of Ismailov’s few novels written in Uzbek, \u003cem\u003eGaia, Queen of Ants\u003c\/em\u003e offers a rare portrait of a complex and little-known part of the world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA plot centered on political corruption and ethnic conflict is punctuated with Sufi philosophy and religious gullibility. As Ismailov’s characters grapple with questions of faith, power, sex, and family, \u003cem\u003eGaia, Queen of Ants\u003c\/em\u003e presents a moving tale of universal themes set against a Central Asian backdrop in the twenty-first century.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57274094649722,"sku":null,"price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9780815611158.jpg?v=1789556949"},{"product_id":"cinema-in-central-asia-rewriting-cultural-histories-by-michael-rouland-gulnara-abikeyeva-birgit-beumers","title":"Cinema in Central Asia: Rewriting Cultural Histories by Michael Rouland, Gulnara Abikeyeva, Birgit Beumers","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCinema in Central Asia is the first comprehensive and up-to-date account of the cinema of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan from its origins to the present day. Bringing together specialists from Central Asia, Russia, Europe and the United States, this companion to the cinema of the region combines serious scholarly study with practical accessibility to construct an historical narrative, discuss aspects of film production and consider the impact of film. The book also offers a deeper understanding of Central Asian culture that is invaluable with the geopolitical and economic emergence of this exciting region.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe book opens with a broad history, paying particular attention to the emergence and expansion of the film industry, competing visions of nationalism and distinct phases of the post-Soviet film experience. A series of incisive articles written by specialists on Central Asian film follows. They explain early film institutions and themes, the impact of the Second World War, expressions of identity and protest during the Soviet era, as well as regional variations of post-Soviet filmmaking and political involvement.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe final section comprises biographical and filmographical entries on the principal figures of Central Asian cinema that offer a much-needed reference for scholars and filmgoers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57293829538170,"sku":null,"price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781845119010.jpg?v=1790082709"},{"product_id":"the-white-cloud-of-genghis-khan-by-chinghiz-aitmatov","title":"The White Cloud of Genghis Khan by Chinghiz Aitmatov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe White Cloud of Genghis Khan (Белое облако Чингисхана) is a novella written by Chinghiz Aitmatov, a renowned Kyrgyz author who is to this day one of Kyrgyzstan’s most iconic national heroes, and who is beloved across Central Asia and beyond. This beautifully crafted work blends elements of folklore, history, and human drama to create a poignant, evocative, and timeless story set in the vast and rugged landscapes of Central Asia.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt its core, the novella tells two interconnected tales: the story of a politically repressed father and his ruthless interrogator each coming to their own realizations of what the meaning of life is, and a legend concerning a warrior and a seamstress who have defied the highest command of the almighty Genghis Khan.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe White Cloud of Genghis Khan is a\u003cstrong\u003e “novella to the novel” \u003c\/strong\u003emeant to \u003cstrong\u003e“finish the unfinished song” of Aitmatov’s magnum opus\u003c\/strong\u003e, The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years. The novella develops on themes core to the original novel like love and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy, and the minuteness and grandness of life. This completion of the “unfinished song” also lays bare direct conflict between the individual and the authoritarian state in a way Aitmatov only felt was possible towards the very end of the Soviet Union, in the more open glasnost-era censorship environment that emerged years after the initial publication of The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHowever, it is critical to note that this novella stands alone as a self-contained story. The White Cloud of Genghis Khan is a tale set in the most remote of places but which addresses the most universally human of questions in ways that readers will find meaningful regardless of whether they have previously read Aitmatov.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAitmatov's writing invites readers on a journey that is both historical and deeply personal, offering a glimpse into the soul of a region where the echoes of the past continue to shape the present. This novella is a testament to Aitmatov's literary prowess and his ability to capture the essence of his homeland in prose that is both enchanting and profound.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57293913325946,"sku":null,"price":11.84,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/199631907.jpg?v=1790084197"},{"product_id":"night-and-day-a-novel-by-abdulhamid-sulaymon-o-g-li-cho-lpon","title":"Night and Day: A Novel by Abdulhamid Sulaymon o’g’li Cho’lpon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNight and Day\u003c\/em\u003e (1934), an unfinished dilogy by Uzbek author Abdulhamid Sulaymon o’g’li Cho’lpon, gives readers a glimpse into the everyday struggles of men and women in Russian imperial Turkestan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than just historical prose, Cho’lpon’s magnum opus reads as poetic elegy and turns on dramatic irony. Though \u003cem\u003eNight\u003c\/em\u003e, the first and only extant book of the dilogy, depicts the terrible fate of a young girl condemned to marry a sexual glutton, nothing is what it seems. Readers find themselves questioning the nature of Russian colonialism, resistance to it, and even the intentions of the author, whose life and the second book of his dilogy, \u003cem\u003eDay\u003c\/em\u003e, were lost to Stalinist terror.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslated by\u003cstrong\u003e Christopher Fort\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57373359997306,"sku":null,"price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781644690475.avif?v=1791475363"},{"product_id":"mosquito-by-akhmet-baitursynov","title":"Mosquito by Akhmet Baitursynov","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublished in 1911, and then expanded and republished in 1922, \u003cem\u003eMosquito \u003c\/em\u003econsists of 36 poems ranging in lengths from six lines to over one hundred and fifty. It contains Akhmet Baitursynov's most overtly political poems, aimed at the yet-to-exist Kazakh nation: to his people, to his kin, and to the many future sons and daughters of Kazakhstan. His intentions with the collection are clear, as we see in the opening lines of the poem “Author's Note\": to buzz around the sleeping Kazakh populace in hopes of awakening them with a rallying cry.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57373365436794,"sku":null,"price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/3062.jpg?v=1791475673"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.pushkinhouse.org\/collections\/central-asia.oembed","provider":"Pushkin House Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}