Read about Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia
Discover the best books on Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, featuring gripping fiction and history—from Robert Rosenberg to Thomas Pynchon. Explore essential reads on the region’s culture, politics, and conflicts in this curated list.
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This Is Not Civilization
by Robert Rosenberg
In the tradition of Prague and White Teeth, This Is Not Civilization is an inspired, sweeping debut novel that hopscotches from Arizona to Central Asia to Istanbul with a well-meaning, if misguided, young Peace Corps volunteer. Jeff Hartig lies at the center of this modern take on the American-abroad tale, which brings together four people from vastly different backgrounds, each struggling with the push and pull of home. A young Apache, Adam Dale, forsakes the reservation for the promise of a world he knows little about. Anarbek Tashtanaliev, of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, operates a cheese factory that no longer produces cheese. Nazira, his daughter, strains against the confines of their village's age-old traditions. With captivating insight, realism, and humor, Robert Rosenberg delivers a sensitive story about the cost of trying to do good in the world.
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Nelles Central Asia Travel Map with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
No summary available.
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Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
In the mid-1960s, the publication of Pynchon's V and The Crying of Lot 49 introduced a brilliant new voice to American literature. Gravity's Rainbow, his convoluted, allusive novel about a metaphysical quest, published in 1973, further confirmed Pynchon's reputation as one of the greatest writers of the century.
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The transformation of Central Asia : states and societies from Soviet rule to independence
No summary available.
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Imperial Hubris
by Michael Scheuer
According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe--at the urging of U.S. leaders--that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do.
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Against All Enemies
by Richard A. Clarke
Richard Clarke has been one of America's foremost experts on counterterrorism measures for more than two decades. Here he tells the disturbing truth about the war on terror.