Customer Reviews

Central Asia: One Hundred Thirty Years of Russian Dominance, A Historical Overview, 3rd ed. (Central Asia Book Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Edward Allworth became the foremost scholar in the USA on Central Asian history with his book "Central Asia A Century of Russian Rule." His views were factual and less culturally biased than work by his British peers in the field. He has continued to update this work. Anyone who wishes to understand post-Soviet Central Asia must first begin with the creation of these nation states through 19th century Russian and 20th century Soviet manipulation of ethnic groups in the area. This book is authoritative, but perfectly accessible to the lay reader.

So for a book on a region I knew nothing about and a time period I new just as much about, it is a great book.

Negatives:
It can be a little hard to read unless you are really interested in the subject matter. I also really would have liked better explanations and references about the major players that are addressed. Some brief bios of the leaders would have helped me separate the names. This would have been especially useful because after they are first introduced they are forever only referred to by last name, and that gets tough to separate after a hundred years. The same is true about cities and what region they are in. So if you are going to read this take notes on the people and cities.

Positives:
Extremely unbiased research into a difficult subject and time. Easily the best way to cover this time period and region than any other research I have found. I say this because most research is too specific and wants to argue too many points. Here we have multiple accounts, multiple reviews of evidence, and the reader is left to draw their own conclusions. Very good for getting introduced to region and time.

All and all it is the best you are going to find if you are looking into Central Asian history and will definitely get a spot on my reference shelf. If you are already an expert in the field it probably isn't going to give you something you don't already know.

very informative. I think we will see a bit of trouble in/from this area in the future, and it might be a good idea to read up on it. This book is a good start for me.