Birds of Central Asia

Birds of Central Asia
Author: Raffael Ayé
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 848
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1408142708

Birds of Central Asia is the first field guide to include the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, along with neighbouring Afghanistan. This vast area includes a diverse variety of habitats, and the avifauna is similarly broad, from sandgrouse, ground jays and larks on the vast steppe and semi-desert to a broad range of raptors, and from woodland species such as warblers and nuthatches to a suite of montane species, such as snowcocks, accentors and snowfinches. This book includes 141 high-quality plates covering every species (and all distinctive races) that occur in the region, along with concise text focusing on identification and accurate colour maps. Important introductory sections introduce the land and its birds. Birds of Central Asia is a must-read for any birder or traveller visiting this remote region.

Islamic Central Asia

Islamic Central Asia
Author: Scott Cameron Levi
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0253353858

An anthology of primary documents for the study of Central Asian history. It illustrates important aspects of the social, political, and economic history of Islamic Central Asia. It covers the period from the 7th-century Arab conquests to the 19th-century Russian colonial era and provides insights into the history and significance of the region.

Central Asia and the Silk Road

Central Asia and the Silk Road
Author: Stephan Barisitz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2017-04-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319512137

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the pre-modern economic history of Central Asia and the Silk Road, covering several millennia. By analyzing an abundance of sources and materials, it illustrates the repeated economic heydays of the Silk Road, during which it linked the Orient and Occident for many centuries. Nomadic steppe empires frequently dominated Central Asia, molded its economy and influenced trade along the Silk Road. The book assesses the causes and effects of the wide-ranging overland trade booms, while also discussing various internal and external factors that led to the gradual economic decline of Central Asia and eventual demise of the Silk Road. Lastly, it explains how the economic decline gave rise to Chinese and Russian colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Detailed information, e.g. on the Silk Road’s trajectories in various epochs, is offered in the form of numerous newly drafted maps.

Tournament of Shadows

Tournament of Shadows
Author: Karl E. Meyer
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 706
Release: 2009-03-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 078673678X

From the romantic conflicts of the Victorian Great Game to the war-torn history of the region in recent decades, Tournament of Shadows traces the struggle for control of Central Asia and Tibet from the 1830s to the present. The original Great Game, the clandestine struggle between Russia and Britain for mastery of Central Asia, has long been regarded as one of the greatest geopolitical conflicts in history. Many believed that control of the vast Eurasian heartland was the key to world dominion. The original Great Game ended with the Russian Revolution, but the geopolitical struggles in Central Asia continue to the present day. In this updated edition, the authors reflect on Central Asia's history since the end of the Russo-Afghan war, and particularly in the wake of 9/11.

History of civilizations of Central Asia

History of civilizations of Central Asia
Author: Adle, Chahryar
Publisher: UNESCO Publishing
Total Pages: 920
Release: 2003-12-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9231038761

The period treated in this volume is highlighted by the slow retreat of nomadism and the progressive increase of sedentary polities owing to a fundamental change in military technology: Furthermore, this period certainly saw a growing contrast in the pace of economic and cultural progress between Central Asia and Europe. The internal growth of the European economies and the influx of silver from the New World gave Atlantic Europe an increasingly important position in world trade and caused a major shift in inland Asian trade. Thus, 1850 marks the end of the total sway of pre-modern culture as the extension of colonial dominance was accompanied by the influx of modern ideas.

The Grand Chessboard

The Grand Chessboard
Author: Zbigniew Brzezinski
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2016-12-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465093086

Bestselling author and eminent foreign policy scholar Zbigniew Brzezinski's classic book on American's strategic mission in the modern world. In The Grand Chessboard, renowned geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski delivers a brutally honest and provocative vision for American preeminence in the twenty-first century. The task facing the United States, he argues, is to become the sole political arbiter in Eurasian lands and to prevent the emergence of any rival power threatening our material and diplomatic interests. The Eurasian landmass, home to the greatest part of the globe's population, natural resources, and economic activity, is the "grand chessboard" on which America's supremacy will be ratified and challenged in the years to come. In this landmark work of public policy and political science, Brzezinski outlines a groundbreaking and powerful blueprint for America's vital interests in the modern world. In this revised edition, Brzezinski addresses recent global developments including the war in Ukraine, the re-emergence of Russia, and the rise of China.

Central Asia

Central Asia
Author: Arminius Vambery
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2023-02-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 3368802690

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

The Great Empires of Asia

The Great Empires of Asia
Author: Jim Masselos
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2018-08-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0500774323

Asian empires led the world economically, scientifically and culturally for hundreds of years, and posed a constant challenge to the countries of Europe. How and why did those empires gain such power, and lose it? What legacies did they leave? This major book brings together a team of distinguished historians and 200 illustrations to survey seven great Asian empires that rose and fell between 800 CE and the mid-20th century: the Mongol Empire, Ming Dynasty of China, Khmer Empire, Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire of Persia, Mughal Empire of India and the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Splendidly illustrated and compellingly written, The Great Empires of Asia shows how those seven empires played a key role in forming todays global civilization and how, with the renewed ascendancy of Asia, their legacies will help shape the continents future.

Central Asia in World History

Central Asia in World History
Author: S.A.M. Adshead
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2016-07-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1349226246

This is a study of Central Asian history from Chinggis to the present, with reference to relations with China, Russia, India and Western Europe and to wider themes of world history. An introductory chapter defines Central Asia in time, place and ecology. The following chapters relate Central Asian history to the eight world institutions, whose development, it is argued, constitute world history in the proper sense.