As the story unfolded I came to know and love Isakjan . This was a man who grew up in the most difficult of times, and he survived impossible circumstances while maintaining a great and dignified human nature.

The politics of this book are clear and honest. Isakjan makes political comments that appear to be as open and fair as any I have ever heard. The fact that the author wrote this book from years of conversations with his subject makes this biography even more compelling. The author appears to have done some extensive research to verify the accuracy of this story and the footnotes and extensive bibliography give me confidence in the factual information that is provided.

I thought that I knew about WWII, but this book provides vision for the political events that are being played out today. I think I will read it again, and then send a copy to a friend.

What an incredible book! In addition to a moving presentation of a fascinating life, the book opened my eyes to hidden momentous folds in the fabric of history. We have all read history as dictated by the winners and explained by the losers. Mr. Crane shows what those squeezed in the middle have to say.

I purchased this book for the Soviet and World War II history. It opened my eyes to some of the most complex, important and unknown aspects of that period. I loved reading "Survivor" because the subject, Jay Narzikul, led one of the more interesting lives of our era, replete with staggering world events, love, dirty and clean politics, deceit, adventure, heroes and fools, murder, freedom, and the pursuit of justice. The story unfolds like the best of novels.

This book is very uniqe book on Maturidî and sunnities. there is scarcely written an Maturidi and maturidities. Maturidi is a very famous Theolog in Ýslamic world, an so Turk. Maturidi is an important man for islam theology. He wrote a lot of book but there are only one book is printed. His views aren't known by science man. Rudolp's book is important this matter.

After reading Tajikistan: The Trials of Independence (see review), my perspective of this region was broadened immensely with Calming the Ferghana Valley. An in-depth study of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan (with particular focus on Northern Tajikistan) and Kyrgystan, the book acts as more of a petition, or call to action, to secure stability in these regions before the continued fragility, confusion, and disintegration of the political and social structure influences an irreversible course toward explosive upheaval.

The recent events in Afghanistan have demonstrated how far-reaching the effects of socio-political unrest can be. They have also demonstrated how strategically valuable these countries can be, being located in the middle of the tumultuous Asian continent. This book is a first attempt at staving off the violent actions and reactions that may or may not occur as a result of the unrest. But with the bombings in Osh, Kyrgystan; the kidnappings and "disappearances" in Tajikistan, and the secret unrest in Uzbekistan, it does not take much influence to convince one that the unrest may be more violent than diplomatic.
I'm just a guy from Minnesota, USA. I have never been to any of these places and probably never will go. Reading this book, however, gives me an apprecation for the struggles that these people encounter every day--both on an individual level and on the governmental level.
The land is a beautiful land, ranging from deserts to spectacular mountains. The people there have a desire to succeed and, with a little of our help, as proposed in this book, perhaps they will.
Read it--Learn a little about this world that you live upon!

This book is a collection of papers written mostly by Russian scientists on the effects of large-scale diversion of water from the Aral Sea for irrigation. No where else is there such a comprehensive look at the effects, including effects on human health (particularly in Karakalpakstan), ecological health, and climate. And its in English!

If you are looking for arabian designs this is not the book, the designs are russian, but the drawings are very good.

The story of Samarkand is woven around the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam, from its creation by the poet and sage in eleventh-century Persia to its loss when the Titanic sank in 1912. Unwittingly involved in a brawl on the streets of Samarkand, Omar Khayyam is brought before a local judge who recognizes his genius as a poet and gives him a blank book in which to inscribe his verses. Thus the head of a great poet is saved and the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam is born. The threads of his life become interwoven with the designs of the vizier, Nizam al Mulk, and of Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the Order of the Assassins who later hides the precious manuscript in his famous mountain fortress. At the end of the nineteenth century the poems fire the imagination of the West in Edward Fitzgerald's evocative translation. An American scholar learns of the manuscript's survival and recovers it with the help of a Persian princess. Together they take it on the fateful voyage of the Titanic.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me and I am so pleased that he did - the story covers a vast region in the Middle East and informs the reader of the geography, history, politics, and poetry of Iran and what is now called Turkmenistan. I not only learned more about Omar Khayyam, arguably one of the finest poets and philosophers of Persia, but I was entertained from the love stories, friendships, deceit, revenge - all the ingredients for a great novel. I highly recomment this novel - it takes you to another world and makes you realize how art and culture play such integral roles in our lives, and how the poetry and philosophy written ten centuries ago are still present and relevant today!

Once again Amin Maalouf has applied his prodigious story-telling ability to illuminate a slice of history with details hitherto unknown to this reader. Samarkand is a richly textured novel with all the right elements to capture and hold the reader's attention: Plot, adventure, romance, poetry, sex, cloak and dagger assassination, and international intrigue. But one should not be fooled by the genre, for, barely concealed behind the search for the manuscript of the famous Rubbaiyat of Omar Khayyam, purported to have gone down with the Titanic, is a well-researched chronicle that does justice to its author. It is a scholarly work that thrills like a mystery, tingles like a romance, tickles like a children's story, and educates better than those dry and boring books they handed out in school!

Samarkand takes you to 11th and 12th Century Persia where one learns that the word assassin, though Arabic in Origin, became the symbol for the most feared underground terrorist group then known to man. They were the vanguards of today's desperados who willingly suffer martyrdom for a cause.

The account of events chronicled by Maalouf opens a window into a world so exotic that we can hardly imagine its influence would reach across space and time to affect our own lives now in the 20th Century.

I could hardly put it down and was very sorry to see it end. But I do not despair; three more of Mr. Maalouf's books are stacked on my nightstand!

Burnaby, a classic hero/adventurer type, was the 19th Century's Indiana Jones. His book, a popular sensation when first published in the mid 1800s, chronicles his exciting, dangerous, and sometimes humorous horseback and sleigh/carriage ride from southern Russia to Khiva, in what was then an independant khanate in Central Asia, in the middle of winter. If you like exciting, true adventure travel tales, you owe it to yourself to see this book. A standard by which all subsequent narratives should be measured

South central Asia, the focus of the world's attention in 2003, received an earlier share of it in the 1870s. For centuries travelers' tales and the mention of such exotic names as Samarcand, Tashkent and Bokhara had aroused interest and fired imaginations. To all this was added rumor in 1875 that British interests in India were threatened by Russian expansionism. In particular, it was believed that Russian forces were massing in the recently occupied city of Khiva, nowadays in Uzbekistan, in preparation for an invasion of India.

A situation like this fitted perfectly the kind of 'investigative reporting' adventures that Frederick Burnaby craved. In 1876, this 33-year-old captain in the British army took leave of absence, and set out for Khiva. The journey involved a ride of over one thousand miles in well below freezing conditions across steppes and wastelands.

On his return, Burnaby wrote 'A Ride to Khiva' and it instantly became a best seller. A well-educated man, proficient in many languages, and a keen observer of all he encountered, his account still ranks as one of the great adventure classics of literature.

I am grateful to the neighbor who lent me this book, and can report that reading it has provided many hours of fascination. Burnaby died ten years after writing this book, supposedly during a massacre in the Sudan. Keen Internet browsers might find reference to a recent revelation that throws doubt upon the truth of the official account of his death.

This is an exciting adventure book, writen in 1876 about the travels of a British Army Captain through Western Siberia into Khiva, a city in Central Asia recently taken by the Russian Empire. It purports to be just travel by an army man at liesure, and wanting to see parts of the world. Since we are in the "Great Game" era, when Britain and Russia were contending for the countries around India, I have the feeling that it was more than that, and that the author's mission was somewhat akin to "checking out the land" in the case of an impending conflict. Anyway, it's extremely well-written, and the descriptions of both the places and the people are first rate! The author obviously had a keen eye, and I would really love to read the report he actually submitted to his superiors in London when he returned. I'm sure it's still buried deeply in their secret files.

Although at times this guidebook serves as an outlet for the authors' intellectual and personal preoccupation with the region, thereby losing its practicality for the reader, overall it is both helpful and beautifully written, brimming with sensory and cultural detail... The authors do not just tell you to go to a bazaar in Samarkand; they take you there, weaving you through narrow streets and by beer vendors, letting you smell the shashlik, nudging you to watch out for pickpockets. Because the authors do not miss a beat, this guide is at times almost a virtual tour of the country. Because the region is unstable and consequently dynamic, this book is now somewhat outdated in certain areas. The two need to update the edition.

I live and work in the heart of Central Asia. Of all the guide books available, this one is the best yet. Not only does it have beautiful color photos and maps, the history articles are excellent. Beware: when you open up this book on the streets of Samarkand, Bukhara, or Khiva, people will gather around to view it! It's so good, I am ordering a full class room set for my students to use in the Uzbekistan studies part of our curriculum at Tashkent International School.

This is not a mere travel guidance of Uzbekistan, but one of the best scientific articles full of joyful information spiced with humanistic reaction of the authors toward the legacy of Silk Road and Soviet Russian history.
Names of people, telephone number, street name, as well as social and political information are all correct. Evaluation of the hotel accommodation including smart managers and busters is illustrated interestingly. If the authors would be aware of the fact that the inattentive attitude of the people in some area shows the existence of military secrets, this book might have shown a different flavor.
Because I have given this book to my friend in Uzbekistan, I would like to order you another copy.

This region of the world is going to be exceedingly important in the next few decades; new nations, huge reserves of oil, oppressive governments (like the Middle East, supported and armed by the United States), and rising Islamic awareness, which is often forced into fanaticism by governments unable to distinguish between extremism and simple religious revivalism. Thus, Keller's book is an excellent source on the Islamic identity of Central Asia, offering the far more complicated picture that I had not known previous. For those in academia, or simply interested in serious study, the book is well worth it.

This German collaboration does well in discussing the general history of the region from the pre-Islamic Sogdian and Bactrian kingdoms, to the khanates and the intrigues of the Great Game to the present day independant country.

Uzbekistan itself, strangely enough, is largely a Soviet era creation. The present borders include the historically important towns of Samarkand and Burkhara (and much of the Fergana Valley), much to the annoyance of Tadjikistan. Thus, the work focusses on the regional definition of Uzbekistan rather than as a people. (The Uzbeks trace their name from Ozbeg, a leader of tribes of Mongol descent in the 14th Century).

Vivid pictures of works of art as well as early photographs chronicle the cultural sophistication in what was once the crossroads of the greatest civillizations in antiquity. An in depth analysis of the different patterns and motifs in carpets points attest to the subtle influences in the region. The book cannot be faulted on its detail of its analysis of artifacts and works of art. Long a people with a nomadic inclination, such influences did not necessarily remain rooted for long, and these remain as probably its most reliable catalog of its past.

Thus said, the book is informative to the point of being somewhat staid in its narrative. Not much is said about life after the transition from the former Uzbek SSR to an independant country. The work is obviously of some national importance as the President of the new Republic provides the forward.

Recommended if you hold more than a casual interest in the region.