Synopses & Reviews
It sounds like the stuff of a fiction thriller: two revolutions, a massacre of unarmed civilians, a civil war, a drug-smuggling highway, brazen corruption schemes, contract hits, and larger-than-life characters who may be villains . . . or heroes . . . or possibly both. Yet this book is not a work of fiction. It is instead a gripping, firsthand account of Central Asiaand#8217;s unfolding history from 2005 to the present.
Philip Shishkin, a prize-winning journalist with extensive on-the-ground experience in the tumultuous region above Afghanistanand#8217;s northern border, focuses mainly on Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Both nations have struggled with the enormous challenges of post-Soviet independent statehood; both became entangled in Americaand#8217;s Afghan campaign when U.S. military bases were established within their borders. At the same time, the region was developing into a key smuggling hub for Afghanistanand#8217;s booming heroin trade. Through the eyes of local participantsand#8212;the powerful and the powerlessand#8212;Shishkin reconstructs how Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have ricocheted between extreme repression and democratic strivings, how alliances with the United States and Russia have brought mixed blessings, and how Stalinand#8217;s legacy of ethnic gerrymandering incites conflict even now.
Review
andquot;Shishkin's book reads like a novel but is the stuff of hard-won journalism. Central Asia finally gets the treatment it damn well deserves.andquot;andmdash;Gary Shteyngart, author of
AbsurdistanReview
andquot;'The Stans'andmdash;as the far-off states of Central Asia are known in the White House, remain a lost world. But few of the old Soviet lands have fallen farther, or faster, amid plagues both ancient and modern: militant Islam, secular greed, a surging heroin trade, civil war, revolution and throughout it all the rule of dictatorships. Throw in the Pentagon's hunger for a staging ground to take on the Taliban, and you've got a dark maze. Thankfully, Philip Shishkin illuminates this tale with uncommon skill. Whether curious tourists or students of 21st-century geopolitics, readers would be hard-pressed to find a better guide.andquot;andmdash;Andrew Meier, author of Black Earth: A Journey through Russia after the Fall
Review
andquot;This book offers an excellent account of everyday life in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as very personal and highly nuanced depictions of some of the most important individuals behind the political changes in the region.andquot;andmdash;Erica Marat, Eurasia Expert, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program
Review
"You'll finish the book with a greater understanding of Central Asia and the feeling that you yourself have been on a journey that you'll never forget, and made some friends along the way. Shishkin's writing evokes John Le Carre crossed with Raymond Chandler and the result is a mesmerizing read."and#8212;Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice
Review
"Shishkin shines as a reporter in his description of Kyrgyzstan's fresh change of regime. Skillfully weaving together many competing accounts of what happened, he provides the most coherent explanation of the forces behind the revolution and those who were responsible for the acts of ethnic violence committed in its wake. . .andnbsp;As an introduction toandnbsp;Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan's complicated recent history, and more importantly as a primer on Kyrgyzstan's dynamic and often confounding politics, Shishkin unquestionably succeeds. "and#8212;Joshua Foust, Foreign Policy
Review
"Absorbing. . . [Shishkin] succeeds, not by trying to provide a definitive or analytical account, but through an investigative eye for detail, probing interviews, biting wit. . .Compelling. . . [A] fine book."and#8212;Alexander Cooley, Quartz
Review
"An engaging, enlightening look at a lesser-known, yet increasingly vital part of the world. . . Shishkin vividly explores, through first-hand experience, interviews, and public record, the sort of events which could fuel a dozen action movies. . . A fascinating expose from a man who knows the region intimately."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"This one's a thriller . . . . Given the complex relations we have had in Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, and the other Central Asian republics since the war in Afghanistan began, when we greatly expanded and added to our military bases in these countries, and given the ongoing tensions throughout the region, this guide to recent (and longer term) history is an exciting and absorbing contribution."and#8212;LA Review of Books on KCRW
Review
"A fast-paced, intricate and humanistic work of reportage."and#8212;Asian Review of Books
Review
"Philip Shishkin's journalistic account of modern Central Asia is . . . an accessible introduction. . . . Sharp and entertaining. . . . [The stories] are vigorous and bold."and#8212;Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
A reporterandrsquo;s vivid account of Central Asiaandrsquo;s wild recent historyandmdash;violent in the extreme and rife with characters both heroic and corrupt
Synopsis
An award-winning reporter provides a vivid account of Central Asiaand#8217;s wild recent history, its role as a staging ground for U.S. military actions in nearby Afghanistan, and its struggles against violence, corruption, and the ruinous heroin industry.
About the Author
An excerpt from Restless Valley by Philip ShishkinAndijan, UzbekistanMay, 2005. Word is trickling out of a massacre of prisoners and civilians.
Rumors rippled through the crowd that high-ranking Uzbek officials, perhaps even the president himself, were on their way to address the rally and somehow make things better. Such was the enduring appeal of the myth of the good czar. Through centuries of misrule and repression, people in the Russian and then the Soviet empire held out hope that all the abuse was orchestrated by mid-level bureaucrats while the man at the top was kept in the dark. If only you could bypass the evil entourage and tell the czar directly what horrible injustices were being visited upon his subjects, he would open his eyes in shock, punish the abusers, and make things right.
You read accounts of victims of Stalinandrsquo;s purges dragged into dungeons and forced by their interrogators to sign wholly fabricated admissions of guilt before getting shot like dogs, and the victims, incredulous to the last, say things like andldquo;Does Comrade Stalin know about this?andrdquo; or andldquo;Itandrsquo;s all a mistake, you must tell Comrade Stalin.andrdquo; The myth of the good czar is a coping mechanism, a refusal to believe that the political system is really as rotten from the top as it seems.and#160;
In Andijan that day, as protesters were expecting the Uzbek president to alight on the square and talk to them, security forces quietly cut off all retreats and prepared to turn the square into a kill zone.