Historical Dictionary of Kyrgystan (Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East)

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Summary: the View from Kyrgyzstan
Review: The dictionary written on the base of interdisciplinary approach will be useful for specialists, who are seriously and scholarly interested in Kyrgyzstan as well as to students who are going to discover this Central-Asian country. The important feature of author's skill is to present the past and present of the Kyrgyz Republic as persistent and unique process. He carefully examines the quantity and quality of state, non-government and private institutions and leaderships and their influence on power and politics in country. The author's independent and non-tendentious view on the situation in modern Kyrgyzstan will be useful for national archives, which now are working towards to systematization and classification of current data.

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Summary: comprehensive reference book on contemporary Kyrgyzstan
Review: The post-Soviet history of Kyrgyzstan resembles a fascinating narration of the Great Game (a term used to describe competition between the British and Russian Empires for domination in Central Asia). For centuries various great powers and nomadic Khanates attempted to establish an ultimate control over this strategically important land. For centuries the land populated by Kyrgyzs was fragmented between various political entities, and only at the end of the 19th century the Russian Empire finally acquired control over this region. In 1924 the Kyrgyz land was united into a single political entity in the controversial and still widely debated border delimitation process. In 1991 Kyrgyzstan declared its independence and began building a democratic and market-oriented state. However, very soon the newly independent country found itself facing a number of difficulties, including rising inter-ethnic tensions, steep economic recession and de-industrialization, growing competition between various clans and wide spread poverty.

This dictionary provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of the historical development of Kyrgyzstan. The introduction and chronology provide an overview of the Kyrgyz history, focusing on the history of the country in the 20th century, political and economic development, ethnic policies and nation building. The author carefully assesses the key issues in Kyrgyzstan's post-Soviet era attempt to develop democratic and market oriented institutions, to keep militant elements at a bay and to deal with multiethnicity and diverse interests of its minority groups. He overviews the growth of political organizations and NGOs and the struggle for power between various formal and informal political groups and institutions.

This extensively researched and intelligently written reference book on Kyrgyzstan covers practically every aspect in contemporary domestic and international politics of Kyrgyzstan. The dictionary consists of approximately 350 entries and is cross-referenced to make sure that it is easy to use by international consultants, NGO activists, policy makers, experienced scholars or young students interested in a complicated and captivating history of Kyrgyzs and Kyrgyz land. The substantial bibliography will help readers to find materials and resources in specialized subject areas.

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Summary: Highly recommend!
Review: This book is one of the best reference sources on Kyrgyzstan that was ever published to date.
It is very well organized and objectively covers most aspects of Kyrgyz history, culture and economic development.
The chronology is as complete as it can be. It starts with available facts on early history and gives more detailed list of majour events of the modern time.
The introduction gives a brief but comprehensive background on the country and it is alone could be a good source of information on Kyrgyzstan.
The dictionary is methodologically written and covers key political, cultural, historical, linguistic, economic aspects of Kyrgyz development. One can even find some interesting - hard to find anywhere else - pieces of information on traditional Kyrgyz culture. The author even explains the problems with different transliteration of Kyrgyz geographic and personal names.
The abundance of statistical tables adds to the uniqueness and usefulness of this book.
Finally the bibliography is a real treasure that points you in the right direction for further research on the country and the Central Asian region.
Highly recommend this book.


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Summary: The only guide to Kyrgyz history, culture and society.
Review: This dictionary is the most useful resourse to date that proves to be a quick and thoughtfull guide for twentieth century Kyrgyz history and society. It provides the students of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia with a concise chronology and a comprehensive list of key issues and concepts. The book demonstrates that Rafis Abazov has done a great deal of research on this neglected region. In addition to being a resource for the history of the region, the dictionary teaches the reader about cultural, social, political and economic facts about Kyrgzystan.
I highly recommend this dictionary as an extensive and well-written reference book of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. It would make an excellent reference book for libraries, schools and universities.

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Summary: review of Kyrgyzstan book
Review: Very useful book. Even someone like me who has worked in Kyrgyzstan twice and considered myself knowlegeable about Kyrgyz history got a lot about of the book.
I especially enjoyed learning more about key figures in Kyrgyz history and the current key political entities. In addition, the dateline is good as is the bibliography.