COMM 430: Five more books on Central Asia

This semester, a small but hearty set of souls has gone on a journey with me--a filmic / literary journey (but a journey nonetheless) to Central Asia.  Thanks to the Soros Foundation & the Open Media Fund, BSC scored a box-set of ten DVDs from the region.  COMM 430 this semester has been watching these films, as well as reading Christopher Robbins' excellent and highly recommended book Apples are From Kazakhstan (2008).  The subtitle of the book is telling: The Land That Disappeared.  I think I can speak for the class when I say what an eye-opener it's been this semester becoming better acquainted with a region of the world so rich in tradition and culture (to say nothing of geo-political importance) that heretofore has been so absent from our collective radar screens.

For my 430 folks, and anyone else who might be interested, here's a short list of some additional books (and a CD) I have on the region.  They may be of help for those final papers, right?(Let me know if you're interested, and I can bring them in to loan.)   Otherwise, it might be something to check out for summer reading... No, really!  

Everyday Life in Central Asia: Past and Present (2007) is an academic anthology rooted in sociology and anthropology, with a distinct ethnographic methodological tilt.  Sections of the book include works on gender, religion, and the nation/state.  A great way to get more in depth in the daily lives of folks from the region.

The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Central Asia (2008) offers a number of interesting maps, with a single page of text accompanying.  Sections include sets of maps on the Mongols, the era of Russian/Soviet colonialism, and the post-Soviet era.  The green and grey maps might be off-putting, but I find the accompanying text to be concise and quite helpful.

The Lost Heart of Asia: An Intimate Portrait of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kirghizstan, the Five Central Asian Republics (1994) has a subtitle only an Amazon.com search engine could love.  I found this in the "travel" section of a big-box bookstore.  Could end up being a nice follow-up to Robbins--in fact, I'd be shocked if Robbins hadn't read this in the midst of writing Apples.

Central Asia: 130 Years of Russian Dominance, A Historical Overview, 3rd ed. (2002) is an example of truth in advertising--the book's focus is indeed the complicated relationship the region has had with its neighbor to the north.  Relatively light on more recent decades, the book's strength is in presenting the systematic colonization of Central Asia by Czarist, and later Soviet, forces.

The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia (1970) is apparently a classic in the field, but there's a reason I managed to stumble across this only at the Harvard Co-op.  Meticulous and dense, this is the place to go to get the goods on Jenghiz Khan of Mongol (2007) fame.  The first of three sections of this tome only gets us to the 13th Century, and the book on the whole doesn't broach the 19th Century.  This would seem to complement the previous book nicely, in that regard.

Oh, and I'd be remiss if I did not mention a CD on the region: The Rough Guide to the Music of Central Asia (2005).  I came across this series as a world music DJ in graduate school, and it's consistently solid.  You get a mix of traditional instrumentals, vocal tracks, and even some decidedly 21st Century-sounding material.  I'm not sure what this says about where I'm at in my musical tastes, but I find myself going back to this disc more often than the new U2.