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Russian Rule in Samarkand uses a comparative approach to examine the structures, personnel, and ideologies of Russian imperialism in Turkestan, taking Samarkand and the surrounding region as a case-study. The creation of a colonial administration in Central Asia presented Russia with similar problems to those faced by the British in India, but different approaches to governance meant that the two regimes often stood in stark contrast to one another. While the Russian administration was characterised by corruption and inefficiency, British rule in India was much more violent, and its subjects much more heavily taxed.

Opening with the background to the political situation in Central Asia and a narrative of Russian conquest itself, the book moves on to analyse official attitudes to Islam and to pre-colonial elites, and the earliest attempts to establish a functioning system of revenue collection. Uncovering the religious and ethnic composition of the military bureaucracy, and the social background, education and training of its personnel, Alexander Morrison assesses the competence of these officers vis-á-vis their Anglo-Indian counterparts. Subsequent chapters look at the role of the so-called 'native administration' in governing the countryside and collecting taxes, the attempt to administer the complex systems of irrigation leading from the Zarafshan and Syr-Darya rivers, and the nature and functions of the Islamic judiciary under colonial rule.

Based on extensive archival research in Russia, India, and Uzbekistan, and containing rare source material translated from the original Russian, Russian Rule in Samarkand will be of interest to all those interested in the history of the Russian Empire and European Imperialism more generally. ... Read more

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In summer and fall 1941, as German armies advanced with shocking speedacross the Soviet Union, the Soviet leadership embarked on a desperate attempt to safeguard the country's industrial and human resources. Their success helped determine the outcome of the war in Europe. To the Tashkent Station brilliantly reconstructs the evacuation of over sixteen million Soviet civilians in one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II. Rebecca Manley paints a vivid picture of this epic wartime saga: the chaos that erupted in towns large and small as German troops approached, the overcrowded trains that trundled eastward, and the desperate search for sustenance and shelter in Tashkent, one of the most sought-after sites of refuge in the rear. Her story ends in the shadow of victory, as evacuees journeyed back to their ruined cities and broken homes.

Based on previously unexploited archival collections in Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, To the Tashkent Station offers a novel look at a war that transformed the lives of several generations of Soviet citizens. The evacuation touched men, women, and children from all walks of life: writers as well as workers, scientists along with government officials, party bosses, and peasants. Manley weaves their harrowing stories into a probing analysis of how the Soviet Union responded to and was transformed by World War II. Over the course of the war, the Soviet state was challenged as never before. Popular loyalties were tested, social hierarchies were recast, and the multiethnic fabric of the country was subjected to new strains. Even as the evacuation saved countless Soviet Jews from almost certain death, it spawned a new and virulent wave of anti-Semitism. This magisterial work is the first in-depth study of this crucial but neglected episode in the history of twentieth-century population displacement, World War II, and the Soviet Union. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Evacuations to Tashkent
Professor Manley has created a well researched and written narrative of the evacuations which took place in the Soviet Union during 1941 and, to a lesser extent, 1942.Building on Peter Gatrell's "A Whole Empire Walking", the author discusses the space created within the Soviet Union for evacuees/refugees with the German invasion of the USSR.Early plans for evacuation of factories, workers, party personnel, and others were discussed and debated during the 1920s and early to mid 1930s.They seem to have reached a climax in 1937, when a new draft was proposed and remained in limbo without being outright rejected or passed as guidelines by which the state would interact with future evacuees.Unfortunately, to some degree this is a reflection of the purges the Red Army underwent.Ideas about "War of Attrition" became taboo and a Blitzkrieg style form of warfare, known as "war of destruction", came to dominate strategic and operational thought."War of destruction" influenced Soviet thinking and was reflected in the idea that any war launched against the Soviet state would be met with a quick counterattack and taken to the "enemy's soil" with little loss of Red Army blood.With such ideas, there was little need for evacuation of either factories, workers, or party personnel.Nevertheless, some discussion still existed and was renewed weeks before June 22, 1941.

While evacuations of peoples was nothing new to Russia/Soviet Union, the many complexities that came out of the events in 1941 created a new paradigm through which "evacuees" were judged; those who left too early could be accused of spreading panic, those too late, collaborators and traitors.A limited space came into existence during which evacuations were viewed as permissible by both the state and civilian population.The author has done a great deal of research and weaves personnel accounts witharchival documentation to present a mosaic of what higher officials were considering and dealing with, and what evacuees went through on their journey to Tashkent.The description of the evacuation itself begins with civilians who did not want to leave and those who could not find a way of attaining the needed permission to evacuate with their families, followed by discussions of how long these refugees waited at stations for their trains, the journeys themselves, which could take up to a month, how they were received them at their destinations, how they lived and tried to survive in Tashkent, and finally, how they tried to return home.Although the narrative is limited to evacuees from major cities such as Odessa, Moscow, and Leningrad and to the destination of Tashkent, there is little reason to believe other experiences differed drastically from those presented here.My grandfather was evacuated from the city of Kherson in Ukraine to Central Asia and underwent much of the same experiences described here, including being separated from his family and eventually being united with them again.

The experiences recounted here make for depressing reading.Families separated by enemy bombardments of their stations or individual trains, thievery was a common occurrence as was lost luggage and valuables throughout the journey and even at final destinations.Arriving in Tashkent meant an immediate search for shelter, food, and work; otherwise, there was little chance of remaining in the city or surviving.Networks and connections counted for much of how people were able to get by.Through relatives, friends, and friends of friends evacuees in Tashkent were able to attain a place to live, vouchers for food, and jobs so as to remain with their loved ones and/or friends.And through all of this a war was still going on.Too often while reading this text one can easily forget the heightened threat this nation faced.Even so, authorities in Moscow and throughout Uzbekistan tried to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees from the west.

In the end, there is clearly a dearth of literature on the evacuations that took place throughout the first year(s) of war.The suffering, deprivation, and tragedy of the time can hardly be captured for a 100%, but this book is an auspicious beginning and deserving of a five star rating.I can only hope that others will take to this topic and try to present an even more encompassing narrative of the evacuation efforts the government of the Soviet Union undertook and the obstacles evacuees/refugees faced as they struggled with the idea of leaving everything they knew to head for an unknown destination in the East.There are still countless stories to be related about the obstacles these men, women, children, and the elderly faced on their journeys and their perseverance in the face of danger, both from the enemy and their own bureaucracy.An excellent addition to both Soviet and Eastern Front literature. ... Read more

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An English-language edition of the correspondence of Khwaja Uba Allah Ahrar, the 15th-century Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi shaykh, and his associates. It provides insights into the sociopolitical and economic history of pre-modern Central Asia and the influential roles of Sufi leaders of the time. It contains the extraordinary collection of autograph letters from the Majm'a -yi murasalat, a manuscript housed at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with petitions to the Timurid court at Herat. The letters cover such topics as internecine conflict, peacemaking, taxation, property and endowments, trade, migration, Islamic piety and law, material support of shaykhs and students, and relief from oppression. Three introductory chapters discuss the Central Asian Naqshbandiya, Khwaja Uba Allah Ahrar, the social, historical, economic and political significance of the letters, and the manuscript and its authors. The volume includes the Persian transcription and a facsimile of the manuscript letters reproduced at the end of the work. ... Read more

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On June 24, 1941, Michael, 16, and his sister, 19, leave their home in Dubno in Ukraine, just ahead of the advancing German armies.Fleeing by foot and train, deep into Ukraine and beyond, the teens spend a brutal winter in a town near Stalingrad, where they nearly perish from hunger and cold.In July of 1942, they escape again ahead of the Germans' onslaught. The siblings' saga of loss, courage, and endurance is interlaced with accounts of critical events of the war and of the annihilation of the Jews in Ukraine, offering an important historical narrative of the challenges wartime refugees faced in the Soviet Union."It's very well-written and tells an extraordinary story with much passion, empathy and skill." - Omer Bartov, professor of history, Brown University"Michael portrays in shattering detail the improbable survival of most Polish Jews who eluded the Holocaust by fleeing to the Soviet Union.The memoir offers a novel, absolutely essential perspective on the catastrophic events of World War II." - Atina Grossmann, professor of history, Cooper Union, New York"This unbelievable, yet true, unique story will help teachers meet the NJ mandate that all students must learn about bias, prejudice and bigotry through the teaching of the Holocaust and genocide." - Dr. Paul B. Winkler, Executive Director, NJ Commission on Holocaust EducationMichael Kesler, a Ph.D. chemical engineer and a graduate of MIT and NYU, has, since retirement, edited and published his late wife's book, Grit, by Regina Kesler, M.D.He is completing a novel, Hurdles, that looks at the lives of family members whose mother and wife falls ill and succumbs to cancer.Publisher's Website: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/ShardsOfWar.html ... Read more

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With over 500,000 words of text and perfromance data; 568 accurate and detailed drawings, some of which show many versions of a single type; more than 750 photographs sourced from Russian archives, many of which have never before been published; information on many unbuilt projects; extensive coverage of pre-1917 Russian aircraft and full discussion of Ekranoplans; this really is the undisputed primary source for information on Russian aircraft. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A "Must Have" for aviation fans
This book is amazing.It covers even the rarestsoviet flyng concepts (such as the Ekranoplans).With tons of drawings and pictures, plus detailed data about the aircraft, Mr. Gunston has provided to us, aviationfans with a great book, showing us the golden era of the soviet aviation. All the prototypes and proposed designs are included.

THE comprehensive reference on Russian aviation
Bill Gunston has gone to extreme lengths to write a book detailing the complete history of Russian aviation from well before the revolution to modern day.Broken down by design bureau, he details the history and specifications of every design made.Even prototype and un-built designs are covered.It provides a reference on aircraft which are almost impossible to find information on, from the 'KT' flying tank idea to some of the wildest jet amphibians. Well illustrated with detailed photos (many of which were previously unpublished) and three-way drawings, the book also includes annexes describing Russian engines, avionics, and their aircraft designation methods. Gunston makes use of recently released information to detail planes that were previously unknown in the West and enhance details on others. He also includes a special pre-revolution section detailing Imperial Russian aviation. This is a must-have for any Russian aviation enthusiast or anyone interested in aviation history in general. ... Read more

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Colonel F.M. Bailey has long been accused by Moscow of being a British master-spy sent to overthrow the Bolsheviks in Central Asia. In this book, he tells of the perilous game of cat-and-mouse, which he played with the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A Thriller That Is True!
This book reads as though it were one of John Buchan's more memorable thrillers -- except that it is true! COL F. M. Bailey, who would have made a great model for Buchan's hero, Sir Richard Hannay, was sent in the midst of the Russian Civil War to find out what was happening. Hairbreadth escapes, feats of daring-do, and remarkable coincidences all combine to make this book a fascinating read...and how may spies get hired to arrest themselves? This book is a must for anyone interested in 'The Great Game,' (which still goes on with newer players), the Silk Road (where the book is set), or Central Asia will find this a great read, and a first-class adventure yarn!

Bloody Good Yarn!
The British really had it together. At the end of WWI with revolution all over Central Asia (and a lot of other parts of the world), the collapse of monarchies, and civil strife in most countries, Britain was in imperial overreach turbo mode... How to deal with all of these troubles simultaneously while retaining the Empire?

Bailey gives you an idea of the kind of person, military man, cool headed, well educated, politically astute, able to command men in battle, fair and just: a reflection of a mindset that battle and force are the last resorts to settle conflict. A few good men on the ground, grinding up their shoe leather, sending out reports and defining the risk, ensured that Britain got involved only when empire and country were threatened.

Men on the ground made this decision and Bailey is your classical "our man in Tashkent" -- the hero of Buchan novels (which sadly few read anymore). His story is one daring escape after the other, double crosses within doublecrosses, and the ubiquitous agent provocateur which could be anyone.....

Bailey's journey through Central Asia was to assess the status of roaming Central Power troops and bloodthirsty bolsheviks -- always wearing guns to intimidate, and always failing with our hero Bailey. Bailey is at a disadvantage because he does not often have an good idea what his govt. is doing and so he engages in light banter with Bolsheviks who ask him how he gets off on coming to the heart of Bolshevist Central Asian, Turkestan when British troops are fighting against the Bolsheviks in Archangel and Baku? Since Bailey realises that the Bolsheviks are often as scarce of data as he is, he injects doubt into the conversation? How does the Commissar know that these were actually British troops? This suffices not because the Bolsheviks buy any of it, but because they are too busy planting agents speying on him to learn his "true" purpose and whomsoever in the counterrevolutionary movement he may be dealing with.

Still this game can only be played so long and then it is time for Bailey to hide, and hide fast as the Bolsheviks want his head. In a number of disguises our hero goes through questioning while dressed as a local, passes the bolsheviks in a purloined Austrian uniform and, moving from safe-house to safe-house and knowing how to survive in the desert, he conducts espionage against the Bolsheviks and lives a life always just one half step ahead of the bolsheviks... sometimes they were literally yards away from him....

This true story by an incredibly self-effacing man has something of import for the modern world. I kept thinking that the situation at the end of the World War was at least as worse (or worse) than the present time in Central Asia and the Middle East. People in 1918 were worried Bolshevism would sweep the world order away as everywhere the objective facts seemed to support the inexorable rise of the Reds. But the British (more or less) kept their heads and deployed resources rather wisely. They built up whole generations of people schooled in the culture of the Empire. Say what you want about Imperialism in general, but the particular variant of British Colonialism engendered a respect for local languages and cultures, and a notion that there were firm limits on the extent of direct control by "boots on the ground" -- and if boots were not necessary, or simply too expensive then people like Col. Bailey were the men to monitor and look after British interests, by subterfuge and stealth -- they never had the luxury of overwhelming force.

His tale is moving, heart thumping in detail, while being understated -- this man wanted no praise.

As such I could not help thinking what went wrong and why the modern imperialists like the US lack even a single person of this ilk, and why their culture did everything possible to thwart the nuturing of such spies before 2001. The US emphasis today is upon brute and overwhelming force to shape the world its image -- it is inward looking. Bailey and his contemporary British officers realised that a good man highly educated in the local languages and cultures, aware of the world so to speak, in the right place could obviate the need for an armed expedition, look after national interests... and make for a ripping read.

There is much the US can learn from men such as Bailey.

Adventure in Central Asia
Central Asia, from the Caspian to western China, was the arena for "The Great Game", the nineteenth-century war of espionage and diplomacy between Russia and Britain.The Russians wanted domination of central Asia; the British wanted to protect India and expand their empire, by influence at least if not by conquest.

Bailey's story comes right at the very end of the Great Game.At the end of the first world war he was sent to Tashkent, in what is now Uzbekistan.The Bolsheviks were taking over Russia which had conquered this part of central Asia (called Russian Turkestan), but at that time, as Bailey says, "no one quite knew what a Bolshevik was or what were his aims and objects".The goal of Bailey's mission was to find out more about what was going on, and if possible persuade them into the war on the Allied side.

Bailey travelled to Kashgar (now in China) and then via Andijan (now in Kyrgyzstan) to Tashkent.Much of the book is about his stay in Tashkent and the deteriorating relationship with the Bolsheviks.As more information came in about the British fighting against the Bolsheviks elsewhere, and as Bolshevik central control improved, Bailey's position became more and more dangerous.He had a good local counter espionage network, and was able to get warning of impending arrests and take measures to neutralize the information against him, but ultimately it became clear he would have to leave secretly or be executed very soon.

After some time (and some adventures) hiding in a village nearby, he returned to Tashkent where he lived using a succession of false papers.When he realized from the limited news he had access to that there was no chance of the regime being overthrown by any of the civil wars or Allied offensives, he decided to head back to British territory.It turned out the Soviet counter-espionage group believed Bailey was in Bokhara, and had sent fifteen agents there to find him; all had been killed.Using his false papers, Bailey volunteered to be the sixteenth and in a move straight from a Bond novel was sent to Bokhara to try to locate himself.

In Bokhara the adventure was not over, as there was a long stretch of hostile desert to cross (what is now Turkmenistan).The group was fired on by bandits as they made the last dash to cross into Persia, then a friendly country.

The book is exciting, primarily because the events are completely believable yet often amazing.Bailey's no great prose stylist, but his writing is clear and straightforward.One oddity that will strike modern readers is that he frequently lists the local wildlife (including the Latin names) in terms of what he was able to shoot.However, after a couple of chapters, the true espionage story starts, and the book becomes absolutely gripping.One other note: Bailey refers to several photographs, but these are not in this paperback edition, which is the one I have.

Strongly recommended.If you're interested in the history of this time and place, you may also want to read Peter Hopkirk's "Setting The East Ablaze", which recounts Bailey's story in considerable detail and provides a great deal more background information and historical setting.

How Does He Get Away With That?
So much of what has happened in Persia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the last 150 years is due to what has been called "The Great Game." Russia has always been a superpower that lacked a salt-water seaport free of ice all year round. (The Black Sea doesn't count because Turkey controls access to it through the easily defensible Bosphorus and Dardanelles.) Consequently, it has always sought to destabilize South Asia in the hopes of being able to get a port on the Indian Ocean.

One of the highest ranking pieces in the Great Game was the British intelligent agent Lieut-Col Frederick M. Bailey, who wrote this fascinating book. So if you're a great intelligence agent, why is it so difficult to write a good book? Simple: A good intelligence agent keeps too much unsaid. Information is his stock in trade, so he is very sparing of all the interesting details.

Picture present-day Uzbekistan in the first year of the Bolshevik takeover (1918). No one in Europe had any idea of what to expect from the Bolsheviks. Would they become more moderate in time? Would the Muslim population accept them? Would the White Russians defeat them in battle and restore the Czar?

In the midst of all these swirling theories strode the skinny and extremely canny Colonel Bailey. He set himself up in Tashkent as the official representative of His Majesty's Government but immediately ran into roadblocks. Without informing Bailey, Britain had in the meantime engaged the Bolsheviks in battle near Murmansk and near the Caucasus. That quickly made Bailey persona non grata (which meant ripe for execution in those times).

But how does one arrest a wizard? Bailey immediately went underground and assumed the identity of a Romanian, Czech, Austrian, Albanian, or other POW, of which Tashkent had many from those WW 1 days. He rarely stayed in one place for more than a day or two, though he did manage to develop some loyal contacts, including the US consul Tredwell. For over a year, Bailey eluded capture. During the whole of that time, there was no effective contact with his government; and during most of that time, he was actively sought by the Cheka, or secret police.

The escape from Tashkent was ingenious and dramatic. Bailey got himself hired as a Bolshevik agent under an assumed identity and assigned to Bokhara, which was not yet under Bolshevik control at that time. There, he reached into his inexhaustible supply of money and bought horses, men and influence to allow him to escape south to Meshed in Persia, where there was a British presence.

I wish I knew at every point how the magician pulled a particular rabbit out of his hat, but I'll just have to take that as a given. Today, Bailey is regarded by the British as one of their greatest spies. In Central Asia, he is regarded as an arch-villain who threatened the development of Communism in Central Asia.

MISSION TO TASHKENT is not an easy read, but it is absolutely vital in understanding the forces, many of which still operate in this pivotal area of the globe.

Brit grit!
As another reviewer remarks, English prose style is not the colonel's strong suit. If ever a book called for the firm hand of a skilled editor, this is such a book. It abounds with inconsequential asides ("I met him years later in Korea"), terse sentences and a wealth of exclamation marks. Nevertheless, this does give the reader an idea of the author's authentic voice and persona - that of an end of empire action man.

The exploits of Colonel Bailey show that the kind of military man that we read of in Rider Haggard and John Buchan's novels really did exist. He would not have been out of place joining an Indiana Jones expedition. He really was an Edwardian action man writ large - bold, resourceful, uncomplaining and considerate of those endangered by his presence.

He is almost a caricature of the quintessentially British officer muddling through to triumph. He comes across as a talented amateur jack-of-all-trades - no James Bond he! He wasa fair linguist but, as luck would have it, only had a smattering or no knowledge of the languages of the nationals he pretended to be: Serbs, Austrians, Romanians etc.

He certainly comes across as fearless. On one occasion he nonchalently reads a copy of The Times that he has "borrowed" from a Bolshevik officer in the room next door who had been sent to hunt for him. English sang froid is much in evidence as he casually mentions the executions of numerous people with whom he had been in close association. This guy had more lives than a dozen cats.

The book very much brings alive the chaos and casual brutality of the early days of the Bolshevik revolution in Turkestan. Somehow Bailey slips through it all, constantly striving to get intelligence out to Britain. Miraculously he never seems to want for money - we never do learn where it came from or where he kept it.

Bailey was a first class eccentric officer - as evidence of this I offer the fact that, whilst detailing his adventures in a world gone mad, he thinks it sufficiently important and interesting to his readers to catalog the various species of butterfly that he captured and preserved on his travels. He even presents us with a complete list of those taken between the Pamirs, Kashgar and on the road to Russian Turkestan complete with Latin names, and the place, altitude and date they were collected.

Mad dogs and Englishmen indeed! ... Read more

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Recent political changes in Central Asia, where the United States is replacing Russia as the dominant power, are having a profound effect on Russian speakers in the region. These people, formerly perceived as progressive and engaging with Europe, are now confronted by the erasure of their literary, musical, cinematic and journalistic culture, as local ethnic and American cultures become much stronger.

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For large part of the post-independence period, Uzbekistan’s elites have legitimised their rule in the name of a struggle against religiously motivated and foreign-funded extremism. Without President Karimov’s rule, the theory that country would have fallen prey to Islamic militancy and possibly slid into chaos has been the cornerstone of the republic’s state formation and consolidation efforts. Legal and public dissent, let alone protest or resistance, has been all but silenced in the country. Since the late 1990s, however, episodes of unrest and protest have grown in number and intensity.

This book examines the origins of the current waves of protest in Uzbekistan. The author analyses how these have changed over the years and provides an outlook into the country's future. Arguing that the ‘Andijan events’ were not an isolated episode of resistance and/or repression in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, the author shows that they are simply the latest episode in the deterioration of state-society relations in Uzbekistan. Showing how the combination between economic insecurity, social insecurity, and the state’s fear of any form of opposition and the declining state authority and legitimacy have all contributed to a state of fear and powerlessness among the population, the author theorises that deprived of any legal outlet for airing grievances, the country is leaning towards various forms of both violent and non-violent opposition.

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Chapters: Freedom of Religion in Uzbekistan. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 40. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Constitution provides for freedom of religion and for the principle of separation of church and state; however, the Government continued to restrict these rights in practice. The Government permits the operation of what it considers mainstream religious groups, including approved Muslim groups, Jewish groups, the Russian Orthodox Church, and various other Christian denominations, such as Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Baptists. Uzbek society generally tolerates Christian churches as long as they do not attempt to win converts among ethnic Uzbeks; the law prohibits or severely restricts activities such as proselytizing, importing and disseminating religious literature, and offering private religious instruction. The status of religious freedom remained restricted with a specific decline for some Pentecostal and other Christian groups during the period of this report. A number of minority religious groups, including congregations of some Christian denominations, continued to operate without registration because they had not satisfied the strict registration requirements set out by the law. As in previous periods, Protestant groups with ethnic Uzbek members reported operating in a climate of harassment and fear. Using new criminal statutes enacted in 2006, the Government brought criminal charges against two pastors. One was sentenced to 4 years in a labor camp; the other received a suspended sentence and probation. Law enforcement officials raided and harassed some unregistered groups, detaining and fining their leaders and members. The Government continued its campaign against unauthorized Islamic groups suspected of extremist sentiments or activities, arresting n...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=16144234 ... Read more

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Chapters: Bahodirjon Sooltonov, Utkirbek Haydarov, Rustam Saidov, Sergey Mihaylov, Anton Fokin, Ekaterina Khilko, Rishod Sobirov, Karim Tulaganov. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 24. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Bahodirjon Sooltonov ( ; born January 15, 1985) is an Uzbekistani boxer who competed in the bantamweight (54kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. At bantamweight he won bronze 2003 losing to Gennadi Kovalev. He qualified for the Athens Games by winning the gold medal at the 2004 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesa, Philippines. In the final he defeated Kyrgyzstan's Aybek Abdymomunov. Sooltonov won the gold medal at featherweight at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha beating Olympuc silver medalist Kim Song Guk in the semifinal and Zorigtbaataryn Enkhzorig. At the world championships 2007 he lost to eventual Russian winner Albert Selimov and didn't medal. 2004 (as a bantamweight) 2003 (as a bantamweight) 2005 (as a bantamweight) 2007 (as a featherweight) ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2611950 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from World Education Encyclopedia, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 8317 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.This country-by-country survey of educational systems provides detailed essays on the histories, legal foundations, and primary and secondary educational systems of 233 countries. This edition provides up-to-date coverage of reorganized educational systems and technological advances. ... Read more

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Chapters: Scouting in Uzbekistan, Mahalla, Public Holidays in Uzbekistan, Polygamy in Uzbekistan. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Scouting in Uzbekistan was founded in 1995, and is working toward World Organization of the Scout Movement recognition. In 1998, Scouting was limited to two Scout troops with a total of 15 members. Since the increasing presence of the United States military in the region after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Scouting is beginning to develop more thoroughly, and the fledgling organization, Kidirib Topubchi O'zbekiston, the Uzbekistan Union of Scout-Explorers, has issued insignia, considered to be a large step for nascent Scout organizations. As far as is known, Scouting was not introduced to the region during the khanate period of the pre-Soviet era. On October 5, 2004, the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) brought together 20 Scouts from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan for a two-hour online discussion of their activities from the IATP access sites in Jizzakh, Tashkent, and Urgench, Uzbekistan, as well as in five cities in Kazakhstan, aimed to bring together representatives of the Scouting movements from these countries to promote friendship and cooperation. Nariman Shayakubov, the leader of the Scouting club at Rabat Malik (named after the ruins on the road from Samarkand to Bukhara, seen in the Uzbek Scout insignia), the Travelers Association in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, shared stories of planting trees, picking up litter in the mountainous Chimgan area north of Tashkent, and hiking. He also told of his organization's international collaboration, hosting a group of German Scouts in Uzbekistan in 2003 and making a 20-day trip to Germany funded by Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder, the German Scouting organizat...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=3067397 ... Read more

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Accused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising genuis, the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, blank book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone. Thus beginds the seamless blend of fact and fiction that is Samarkand. Vividly re-creating the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam, Amin Maalouf spans continents and centuries with breathtaking vision: the dusky exoticism of 11th-century Persia, with its poetesses and assassins; the same country's struggles nine hundred years later, seen through the eyes of an American academic obsessed with finding the original manuscript ; and the fated maiden voyage of the Titanic, whose tragedy led to the Rubaiyaat's final resting place - all are brought to life with keen assurance by this gifted and award-winning writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

Colorful historical messages ..
Samarkand is a colorful historical painting , so rich events ..characters & metaphors , so take care it is a heavy meal !

You will travel through 1000 years , stopping at the beginning with Omar Khayyám & at the end withJamal-al-Din Afghani, so we travel to middle Asia , taking detailed two shots of Iran , suddenly you will feel trapped in the enchanting historical atmosphere, pushed to look for more , slowly you find out the truth , wonder what do the metaphors mean ? you will see the present wearing the mask of the past ! ...Powers struggle , manipulation of religion, Colonial domains , it is just like by exploring the history wounds , you will discover that they are still bleeding until today , some way or anther !

I was dazzled by the Triad : Khayyám , Hassan-i Sabbah & Nizam al-Mulk ! , I was impressed by the oriental woman presention , she was not locked in the harem , no she was ambitious.. .a poet ..a queen can build or smash a kingdom ,and a revolutionary .. zealous princess :)

I raise the hat for the author ,for handling the rich details , evoking the east sprit through traditions , ceremonies & mysteries , he tried to face the complicated debate (east relation to west) , and the contradiction that appears when you conceder associations' interests -from a side- and simply the individuals' cultural interactions from anther side , and this particularly what leads me to (Samarkand Manuscript) , it was the novel's link all the way , it is an important symbol ... sending a metaphoric message , it is the east's flower which captured both hearts of east & west , it brought them together in amazing respect & Sanctification , it was distended to be lost in the disastrous journey of the dreaming commonalty people from both sides towards the new world (this how the author described it) !what was the point ..there will no intersection ! I do not know ..

Anther issue , the novel's title ..(Samarkand) , it was only mentioned twice , once at the beginning : prospering - in spite of his illness - that was when the manuscript was born , and again after one thousand years , as dusty ruins inhabited by ghosts & the past legends , I wonder ..what was the message ? ..
sure it is a book deserves to be read more than once ..

Great histories, okay stories.
Having just read Colin Thubron's Silk Road and decided he would have been better writing a history or novel than a modern day travel piece, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this on my shelf and find it to be a fictionalised history of the Persia of Thubron's musings. Hurrah. And indeed, it's all very interesting. However, Maalouf's telling is curiously passionless, smooth but unpunctuated by any moments of import. Shahs fall, poets die, ships (spoiler!) sink, and the prose just slides comfortably along.

It's fine, but there must be better books out there, on Omar Khayaam, on Persia, on the Titanic.

overall sense of disappointment
I was very excited with the prospects of reading a good novel about Persia, especially about Omar Khayyam, but this book left me with an overall sense of disappointment.There is no doubt that Maalouf did superb research for this book and the story has its nice moments. But, I cannot agree with the rave reviews on his writing skills. I felt that he took the easy way out with all aspects of writing. Instead of trying to interlink the two stories (one is of Khayyam, the other is a modern love story/ historical adventure) with flashbacks to the time of Khayyam, for example, he wrote one story first. Then, wrote the second (book II). Even with this easy method, he didn't do a good job. Book I mostly reads as a novel about Khayyam, but when it is convenient, he switches his tone and makes references to historical data as if it is a non-fiction book. With Book II, I thought character development was pretty lame. I never fully understood the hero's (actually he didn't do anything heroic in my opinion) motivation to pursue his travels. I think he was bored, rich and had nothing better to do. I also thought the author showed clear prejudice against Turks. Anyone who was Turkish was described with a negative attribute.Also, throwing in Titanic and talk about the whole disaster in the length of 3 pages was very lame. Couldn't he come up with a better solution for the fate of the greatest Oriental book ever?

Utterly disappointing
Maalouf is a wonderful novelist, he has a keen eye for detail and a remarkable knack of bringing to life history for the modern reader and presenting it in a way that is both entertaining and page turning.HE has done this well with Leo the African and Gardens of Light but unfortunately this book is something of a step too far.

First of all, we do know a great deal about Seljuq history (Even if our knowledge of Omar Khayyam is limited) and Maaloufs descriptions of Seljiq and 12th Century Middle Eastern life seem to have more to do with post Nassirst Arab nationalism than reality.One again the Sultans are raving drunks (While at the same time paradoxically Sunni fanatics) Hassan ibn Sabbah and the entire Ismaili movement and philosophy (again both of whom we know a fair amount about thanks to the likes of al-Ghazali and others) Is dismissed as something of a disgruntled bureaucrat who on being duped out of a lucrative role in government makes his way to Egypt, becomes an Ismaili and then starts his own sect hoping to "Rid the Arab and Persian land of Turkish yolk" Rubbish! A large portion of the followers of ibn Sabbagh were Turkoman peasants living in North Eastern Iran!Nizam al-Mulk is something of a "Traitor" to the Persian people working with the "Turks"(Presumably Maalouf is unaware that Persian was the state language!) Its almost reminiscent of novels of Ottoman Sultans where they are described as drunkan pederasts (Even though its well documented that only 2 of them are known to have consumed alcohol)

The book itself covers the same story line as much of his other novels (Main character falls in love, secret love affair, surrounded by corrupt politicians, has a drink every now and again)The main problem is though, his historical reading of the subject seems to be entirely based on Western literature published aver a decade ago leaving it massively disappointing.

A book I keep coming back to
This is one of those books I've read numerous times. Probably every couple of years I come back to it and find more to enjoy. Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Describes the history, development, current status, and possible future of the four former Soviet republics which have strong ties to neighboring Muslim states. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 10295 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Presents easy-to-understand information on 200 countries and dependencies from around the world. Entries discuss a variety of topics in detail, from banking and securities to climate, from government data to demographic statistics. Also includes biographical essays on national leaders. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3922 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Comprehensive and written clearly, the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations features consistent coverage of all countries while allowingfor easy comparison on the different nations of the world. ... Read more