Russia in Asia: Reading & Film List

Annotated bibliography of Russia in Asia - History and Foreign Relations

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The History of Russia in Asia - Reading List

“In Europe we were hangers on and slaves, but in Asia we will be masters. In Europe we were Tatars, but in Asia we will be Europeans” - Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Writer’s Diary,” “Geok-Tepe. What is there for us in Asia?”, 1881

“Scratch a Russian and find a Tatar” - Napoleon

“Yes, we are Scythians!” - Aleksandr Blok, “Scythians,” 1918

Introduction: Russia’s Two Heads

The ancient Roman deity Janus was the god of gateways, transitions, passageways, doors, and comings and goings. Facing both west and east, Russia throughout its history has looked in both directions for inspiration and opportunities. When its plans were thwarted or it meet scorn on one direction, it turned seamlessly to its other direction. In the 1850’s Russia suffered a humiliating defeat in the Crimean War by an Anglo-French force, while elsewhere it was shunned as the “gendarme of Europe” for the role it played in helping to suppress the liberal revolutions of 1848. In response to this, Russia annexed huge territories from China, what would become the Russian Far East, and then also conquered all of Middle Asia in a series of daring campaigns.

Very similar to the Byzantine Empire of the Middle Ages that held territories both in Europe and in Asia with a ruling elite dominated by Macedonians and Armenians during its Golden Age, Russia has always been a Janus faced entity always looking towards both Europe and Asia simultaneously, with one foot in each world. While historically its ruling caste were Europeans, Slavs and Germans in particular, Russia never shied away from incorporating Asians into its ruling structures. After it conquered the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in the 16th century, the successor states of the Golden Horde, Russia’s former master who saddled it with the “Tatar Yoke”, Moscow did not hesitate to incorporate the khanates’ Turkic elite into its own. Unbeknownst to many, the reactionary General Lavr Kornilov who marched on Petersburg in the summer of 1917 aiming to overthrow the liberal Provincial Government and reinstall the Tsar was a Mongol by blood, a descendant of the lost Zungar Empire. Today, the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu is half-Tuvan, a Turkic nomadic people from south Siberia, while the deputy Minister of Defense Yunus-bek Yevkurov is an Ingush from the North Caucasus.

Russia itself is a living contradiction to Rudyard Kipling’s often quoted line, “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”¹ Instead Russia and its land are where not only the West and East meet, they mix, and flow back and forth into each other across the endless horizons of the Eurasian steppes. To quote Nietzsche, Russia is “that huge empire‑in‑between, where Europe as it were flows back into Asia,… There the strength to will has for long been stored up and kept in reserve, there the will is waiting menacingly.”²

The territory of Russia, long before Russia ever existed, has always played this role. Similar to how the lands of the Byzantine Empire served as a land bridge that ferried Europe’s crusading knights to the Near East and later helped bring the Turks to the very heart of Europe, the Russians lands have seen countless armies from Europe and Asia ride out to subdue the other. The most ancient origins of European civilization are to be found in the Russia’s Asian territories. From the steppes south of the Ural Mountains beginning sometime in the 3rd millennium BC, the Aryans (or Indo-Europeans) spread outwards in all directions, with one branch moving west out of the Eurasian steppes into Europe. These nomads would go on to conquer Europe, and their descendants would become the European nobility who would rule Europe and be the primary carriers of European culture up until their decline in the 20th century, when they were overthrown by Soviet communism and American mass democracy. In more recent history the territory of Russia served as a launch pad for other nomadic invasions of Europe, including those by the Sarmatians, Alans, Avars, Bulgars, Maygars, Turks and Mongols. One could even say that it was a half-oriental horde that sacked Berlin in 1945.

In truth the sharp dichotomy of Europe and Asia can only really be applied to Western Europe and its overseas colonies that were separated by the oceans and great cultural gulfs. Some have attempted to transcend this European/Asian dichotomy with the term “Eurasia.” While the term has come to gain certain political connotations, simply as a geographic descriptive term it very aptly captures the two faces of Russia.

Russia’s face that looks towards Asia is incredibly important and especially so today, but traditionally it has been often ignored and overlooked in favour of its European face. This of course is a natural bias, after most foreign observers of Russia are Europeans, and Russians themselves have often strived to be good Europeans. It is worth pointing out that Vladimir Putin has said that the leader he admires most is Peter the Great. This might seem like a contradiction as it was Peter more than anyone else who set Russia on a European trajectory, whereas Putin has set Russia on a course of decisively splitting from Europe, and in its place cultivated stronger ties with Asia. But there is nothing contradictory here. To understand this one only needs look at Alexander Nevsky, the 13th century Prince of Novgorod who submitted to the Mongols as a vassal in exchange for help in Novgorod’s war against the Teutonic Knights. The goal of Nevsky’s policy was to secure maximum independence, sovereignty and state power for Novgorod. The Teutonic Knights sought land to colonize, while the Mongols were far away and only wanted tribute. For Nevsky the lesser evil was obvious, and similar to Putin today, he saw Asia has a means to counterbalance an aggressive Europe which would allow Russia to preserve its independence.

It is Russia’s ability to look both East and West that provided it with its power historically, as well as its ability to shun the West today. Just as Moscow’s rise to great power status was funded by its lucrative fur trade in Siberia, today the sources of Russia’s wealth are still found in Siberia in the form its vast natural resources.

But more than just Asia’s material wealth, it was Russia’s innate Asian-ness that allowed it become superpower. In his excellent book “Russia Against Napoleon”, Dominic Lieven argues that it was Russia’s horses that allowed it to not only resist Napoleon, but ultimately conquer Paris as well. Russia’s vast stud farms and its trade with the steppe nomads provided it with nearly unlimited horses that could be used for logistical purposes as well as for cavalry units, one of which managed to capture Hamburg during a raid deep into French controlled territory. Later, Turkic Baskhirs and Kazakhs paraded through the streets of Pairs in 1814 after the city was taken by Russia. Seeing how the Russians fought half-nomadic like, it is no wonder Napoleon thought they were Tatars in a European skin.

And of course today Russia’s ability to take on NATO and to be seemingly winning is in large part thanks to Russia’s Asian connections. Russia’s economy has proven to be much healthier than most Westerner economies despite sanctions, in large part thanks to its increased trade with China, India and other Asian states. On the battlefield Iranian Shahed drones penetrate NATO provided air defense systems and North Korean artillery shells rain hell down upon entrenched Ukrainian forces. Not only is the history of Russia in Asia very interesting on its own and important in terms of Russian history, it also helps explain the basis of Russian power. If the West is to have any success with Russia in the future, its Asian face will need to be taken into account.

The List

The list below consists of English language literature on the subject of Russia in Asia. This included history, contemporary affairs, novels, travelogues and any other book that is connected to this subject. I also including some relevant films on the list.

The list is divided geographically into separate sections. These include: 1) The Steppes, 2) Caucasus, 3) Siberia, 4) Far East, and 5) Central Asia. There is also a section for miscellaneous, books which do not fit into any specific geographic category, and a section for articles. Some books do not fit neatly into these geographically based categories. Also, these geographic zones are not sharply delineated in real life and often bleed into each other. For simplicity I placed these books in the section most fitting. I tried to organize each section chronologically, with texts that are general or cover a broad period of time being listed first.

This is far from being a complete list. Not every book I have read on this subject is included here, but merely those books that I think are worth reading. Each book has a brief write up, explaining what it is about and why it is relevant, and other details that might be worth noting. I read many of these books years ago and are not at all fresh in my mind, and I had to recall them the best I could.

Hopefully this will be a useful resource for many people. Many of these books can be found on the Internet Archive or on Libgen. Many of the films can be found on YouTube with English subtitles.

Lastly, I have personally made a contribution to this list, with "Maksud Alikhanov-Avarsky’s “The Expedition to Khiva,” available on Amazon.

This list is periodically updated. Last updated: 16/2/2025

The Steppes - The Pontic and Caspian Steppes (The South Russian Steppes). While technically a part of Europe, this region was largely inhabited by Asian nomads and Cossacks who adopted many of the customs of the Asian nomads. The Kazakh steppes are included in the Central Asia section.

Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North - Ahmad ibn Fadlān, 921

Ibn Fadlan was an Arab diplomat sent by the Abbasid Caliphate to the Volga Bulgars. He traveled through Central Asia and then up the Volga River passing through the Khazar Khaganate, a powerful steppe empire that dominated the eastern Slavic tribes in the period prior to the formation of the Rus. In his text primarily consists of ethnographic and political information concerning the peoples he encountered, and is possibly the most detailed primary sources concerning the steppe nomadic peoples that the early Rus encountered. The book is particularly important for its coverage of the Khazars and Vikings, both of whom had a tremendous amount of influence upon of the eastern Slavs and the formation of the Rus. For more on the Khazars, see my essay where I present an overview of their history and empire.

Medieval Russia, 980–1584 - Janet Martin, 1995

An excellent overview of medieval Russia that covers its interactions with the steppe world.

Викинг (Viking), 2016

A historical retelling of Prince Vladimir’s rise to power and his conversion to Christianity. The film itself is mediocre, but it does an good job depicting the history of the Rus and the tripartite foreign influences on the eastern Slavs that ultimately produced Russia, those being Scandinavia, the steppe nomads, and Byzantium. The film is worth watching if you are interested in history.

Russia and the Golden Horde: The Mongol Impact on Medieval Russian History - Charles J. Halperin, 1985

A short book that highlights the peaceful and productive relations that existed between Russia and the steppe nomads. The author rightly notes that trade and cooperation were just a normal as conflict and war.

Орда (The Horde), 2012

A fictionalized retelling of Saint Alexius healing the mother of the Khan of the Golden Horde. The film is worth watching for its depiction of the Golden Horde, which ruled Russia as a tributary vassal for centuries following the Mongol conquests, and for its Christian themes of a “descent into hell.”

Taras Bulba - Nikolai Gogol, 1835

A great, short novella by Gogol about the Zaporozhian Cossacks of Ukraine, and their wars against Poland. While not exactly steppe nomads themselves, the Cossacks were largely made up run away Slavs who escaped into the steppes in search of freedom and adventure, and adopted many of the same customs as their Turkic and Mongolian counterparts. A particularly relevant book in light of the war in Ukraine.

Тарас Бульба (Taras Bulba), 2009

An excellent adaptation of Gogol’s novel.

Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800 - Michael Khodarkovsky, 2002

An excellent book examining how Russia interacted with the steppe lands during its rise to great power status. Khodarkovsky (not to be confused with the oligarch) examines the imperial strategies and techniques that Russia used to control the steppe nomads. A must read for the subject.

Where Two Worlds Met: The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771 - Michael Khodarkovsky, 1992

A very good overview of Russia’s relations with the Kalmyks. The Kalmyks are a nomadic people that broke away from the Oirat (western) Mongols in the 17^th century and migrated to the Volga steppes. There, they came under increasingly strict Russian control. Uncontent with their situation, a large portion of the Kalmyks decided to return back to their initial homeland in the 1770’s. Probably the best book to read on the history of the Kalmyks.

Threads of Empire: Loyalty and Tsarist Authority in Bashkiria, 1552-1917 - Charles Steinwedel, 2016

A good overview of the history of Russia and the Bashkirs, a semi-nomadic Turkic people located in the south Urals. The book covers their interactions with Russia, how Russia progressively tightened its control over them, and their relations with the Kazakhs and other steppe nomads.

The Captain's Daughter - Alexander Pushkin, 1836

Set in the Orenburg frontier with the Kazakh steppes during the reign of Catherine the Great, Pushkin’s novel is a fictional love story set during the Cossack rebellion of Emelyan Pugachev. A great novel depicting life on Russia’s steppe frontier.

Русский Бунт (The Captain’s Daughter), 2000

A great adaptation of Pushkin’s novel.

The Russian Annexation of the Crimea 1772-1783 - Alan W. Fisher, 1970

A good and very informative book detailing how Russia initially conquered Crimea. The author focuses on the inter-state relations between Russia, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.

The Crimean War: A History - Orlando Figes, 2010

A good general history of the Crimean War, written at a popular level with academic rigor.

Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization - Stephen Kotkin, 1995

A great book on the creation of the city and steel plant of Magnitogorsk on the steppes south of the Ural Mountains. Magnitogorsk was an industrial-mega project under Stalin that was modeled on the steel plant at Gary, Indiana (largest in the world at the time). This is a very interesting book that examines the new “socialist civilization” that the Soviet Union attempted to create.

Nomads and the Outside World - Anatoly Khazanov, 1984

While not about Russia specifically (but with some historical references to Russia), this book is very useful for understand how nomads functioned, and how they would have functioned regarding Russia.

Nomads in the Sedentary World - Anatoly Khazanov, 2000

See above: Nomads and the Outside World - Anatoly Khazanov, 1984.

Caucasus - Also includes Turkey, Persia and the Middle East, due to the Caucasus’s geographic proximity and cultural similarities with these regions

The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan - Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov, 1845

An excellent history of the eastern Caucasus, which played a very important role in history has it holds the Derbent pass, one of the two main roads that transits north and south over the Caucasus. Historically many of the invading nomadic armies that ravaged the Middle East came through this pass. The author himself is an interesting figure. The khan of Baku, today the capital of Averbaijan, he was also an officer in the Russian Imperial army. My first post on Substack, a history of the Derbent pass, was partially inspired by this book.

At The Edge Of Empire: The Terek Cossacks And The North Caucasus Frontier, 1700-1860 - Thomas M. Barrett, 1999

A monograph on the history of the Terek host, the Cossack force located in the Chechen and Dagestani lowlands. A very good book which shows there was as much intermixing between Cossacks and highlanders as there was conflict.

Journal of a residence in Circassia during the years 1837, 1838 and 1839 - James Stanislaus Bell, 1840

The journal of a British political agent and spy who lived among the Circassians of the Caucasus’ Black Sea coast during their struggle against the Russian Empire. Not only is this book an interesting first hand account of British espionage against Russia, it contains many interesting details about Circassian culture and their way of life. It is worth noting that the British tried to support and arm the Circassians as a means to prevent Russian expansion in a similar way that Ukraine has been used as a proxy against modern Russia.

The Russian conquest of the Caucasus - John Frederick Baddeley, 1908

Likely the definitively history of Russia’s conquest of the Caucasus. If I remember correctly, Baddeley interviewed surviving figures who participated in the war.

The Sabres of Paradise: Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus - Lesley Blanch, 1960

An inferior and more novel-like treatment of Russia’s conquest of the Caucasus that places Imam Shamil at the center of the story. Not a bad book, but it relies on oriental tropes that feel outdated and cliché. Readers would be better off with Baddeley’s work.

A Hero of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov, 1839

A must read novel about the Caucasus. A short novel told episodically in the form of a character dialogue and a recovered diary, Lermontov paints a picture of a nihilistic Russian officer and his adventures in the Caucasus that involve kidnapping native princess, duels, and antagonizing Russia’s pretentious and decadent nobility.

Lermontov: Tragedy in the Caucasus - Laurence Kelly, 1977

A good biography of Mikhail Lermontov.

Hadji Murad - Leo Tolstoy, 1912

A novella about a Dagestani prince who defected to Russia from the highlanders, and then defected back to the highlanders. A great historical novel that shows that local Caucasians often played both sides, and freely swapped their loyalites from one party to another. America likely encountered something very similar in Afghanistan as what Russia encountered in the Caucasus.

Bitter Choices: Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus - Michael Khodarkovsky, 2011

This book tells the story of Semen Atarshchikov, a Chechen with duel, conflicting loyalties to Russia and to the highlanders during the era of Russia’s conquest of the Caucasus. A very good academic text that covers similar terrain as “Hadji Murad.” For more on this book, see the short threat I wrote about it on Twitter.

The Frosty Caucasus - Florence Craufurd Grove, 1875

A travelogue by a British mountain climber and his trip to the summit of Mount Elbruz, Europe’s highest peak.

Savage Svanetia (2 volumes) - Clive Phillipps-Wolley, 1883

A British travelogue about an adventure to Svaneti, a region of Georgia at the heart of the Caucasus. Svaneti is best known for its towers, and being the source of the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece.

Sport In The Crimea And Caucasus - Clive Phillipps-Wolley, 1881

A travelogue based on a hunting expedition in the Crimea and Caucasus.

The Exploration of the Caucasus (2 volumes) - Douglas William Freshfield, 1901

A British travelogue about an expedition to climb Mount Kazbek. Freshfield describes Abkhazia and Svaneti at length.

The Rugged Flanks of the Caucasus (2 Volumes) - John Frederick Braddley, 1940

A travelogue composed of Badeley’s travel notes that were organized into a book and published after his death. This work is rich in geographic and ethnographic details, primarily about the Chechens and the Ossetians.  An excellent book.

Ali and Nino - Kurban Said, 1937

A wonderful romance-adventure novel about a Muslim boy and a Goergian girl set in Baku during the First World War and Russian Civil War. The author’s name “Kurban Said” was a pseudonym and while his exact identity is unknown, many believe it to be Lev Nussimbaum, a Austrian Jew who converted to Islam and lived in Baku prior to the Bolshevik takeover. 

Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border 1828–1921 - W.E.D. Allen, 1953

A good military history of Russia’s wars against the Ottoman Empire in the Trans-Caucasus, namely in Georgia and eastern Anatolia.

The Russian Origins of the First World War - Sean McMeekin, 2011

A very interesting book that convincingly argues that Russia was primarily responsible for causing First World War due to its ambitions to seize control of Constantinople. According to McMeekin, Russia was desperate to prevent the German-Ottoman alliance from further consolidating, and thus gave Serbia a “blank cheque” in order to cause chaos in the Balkans and disrupt the Central Powers’ overland access to Constantinople. 

Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire - Peter Hopkirk, 1994

An excellent book on the German, Ottoman, Russian/Soviet and British great power competition over the Near East, Caucasus and Persia during the First World War. The narrative culminates with the British intervention into modern day Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, where the British attempted to aid the Bolsheviks in defending Baku and its oil fields from the Ottoman army.

The Caucasus Under Soviet Rule - Alex Marshall, 2010

An excellent book that examines the Caucasus during the Soviet epoch. Marshall’s kaleidoscopic account of the Russian Civil War is the highlight of this book.

Мимино (Mimino), 1977

A classic Soviet film about the adventures of a Georgian pilot attempting to make it in Moscow, which is contrasted with his native Georgia.

Bourdieu's Secret Admirer in the Caucasus: A World-System Biography - Georgi M. Derluguian, 2004

This book focuses on the life of Musa Shanibov, an academic from the Karbardia region of Russia’s North Caucasus who later played a significant role as a commander in Chechnya during the Chechen War. An interesting and fun account of an academic turned warlord. Possibly an inspirational text for some. There is more to this book beyond the biographical details of Shanibov, but I do not remember it well.

The Post-Soviet Wars: Rebellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus - Christoph Zürcher, 2007

An excellent book that examines the wars that broke out in the Caucasus following the collapse of the Soviet Union. A must read for studying the region.

Мандарины (Mandarins), 2013

An Estonian-Georgian production about Estonian Mandarin growers living in Abkhazia who are caught in the crossfire of the Abkhaz-Georgian War that broke out following the collapse of the Soviet Union. A good film on the Caucasus’ post-Soviet conflicts, and how both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union helped distribute various ethnicities across the far reaches of Eurasia.

The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire - Khassan Baiev, 2003

A memoir by a Chechen athlete and surgeon who lived through the Chechen Wars of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. An excellent firsthand account of the conflict that also explains why the Chechens sought independence to begin with.

Война (War), 2002

A Russian soldier who was taken prisoner in Chechnya and released goes back on a mission to retrieve his comrades who were left behind. My favourite Russian film. Directed by Alexei Balabanov, who his best known for his films Brat and Brat 2. This is quite a dark and heavy film, but accurately captures the feeling of Chechnya in my opinion.

Кавказский Пленник (Prisoner of the Caucasus), 1996

Based on the Tolstoy novella, this film is about two Russian soldiers who are captured and taken prisoner in Dagestan during the 1990’s. A lighter film that Война, and accurately captures the feeling of Dagestan. The movie was filmed in the Dagestani villages of Richa and Maraga, and if I am not mistaken, all of the extras were local villagers.

The Caucasus: An Introduction - Thomas de Waal, 2010

A good, very approachable general history that focuses primarily on the modern history of the south Caucasus.

Stories I Stole - Wendell Steavenson, 2002

A nice travelogue of post-Soviet Georgia.

What Is Russia Up To in the Middle East? - Dmitri Trenin, 2017

An informative and short book that examines Russia’s diplomatic efforts in the context of its intervention in Syria. Likely still relevant today.

Siberia - From the Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal. The Russian Far East is a separate section itself

The History of Siberia - Igor V. Naumov, 2006

A good, short overview of the history of Siberia.

The Conquest of a Continent: Siberia and the Russians - W. Bruce Lincoln, 1993

A good, popular history of Russia’s expansion across Siberia, from Yermak to the creation of the mega hydro-electric dams and the Baikal-Amur Mainline during the later Soviet era. The author is obviously biased though. Siberia under the Russian Empire is described only negative terms, with an emphasis on the state’s repression and the region’s poverty. On the other hand, the early Soviet period is described optimistically, only for Siberia to once again become a land of corruption and evils during the Cold War era. This is a ridiculous framing because if anything life was at its worst under the early Soviet regime, whereas the empire and post-Stalin periods were far more pleasant. If nothing else, this book serves as a good example of the rampant, and often ridiculous, biases that exist in English language media regarding Russia.

Russia's Eastward Expansion - George Alexander Lensen (Editor), 1964

An excellent collection of essays that focus on Russia’s history in Siberia and the Far East.

Arctic Mirrors: Russia and the Small Peoples of the North - Yuri Slezkine, 1994

A very good book that examines the history of how Russia interacted with the native tribes of Siberia. This book will be particularly interesting for Americans and Canadians, as Russia’s experience with native Siberians could be compared to America’s and Canada’s experiences with native North Americans. 

Travels From St. Petersburg In Russia To Diverse Parts Of Asia - John Bell, 1763

An English travelogue from the 18th century, Bell travelled across Russia and Siberia to reach China and returned back. Bell’s book offers a particularly interesting look at Siberia during a time when the Russian presence there was still very meager and undeveloped, as well as being under constant threat from natives and steppe nomads.

Notes from a Dead House - Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1861

A semi-autobiographical novel based on Dostoevsky’s time as a convict at Omsk. Dostoevsky was arrested for his involvement with the dissident Petrashevsky group, for which he was initially sentenced to death, but was later commuted to “katorga” (hard labor). Similar to the role that Australia served the British, Siberia was used by Russia as a dumping ground for exiles and imprisoned criminals. This is a very important book for understanding the evolution of Dostoevsky’s thinking, katorga under the Russian Empire, as well as a ethnographical work on the prisoners themselves.

The Gulag Archipelago (3 volumes) - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1973

Under Stalin the Soviet Union embarked upon a rapid industrialization process in a desperate attempt to prepare the country for another World War. As many resources lay in remote, undeveloped regions that would be difficult to attract free labor to, the Soviet system instead create a form of slavery that would be used to supply these industrial projects with labor. Solzhenitsyn’s work tells the history of the gulag system, records his own experiences within the system, as well as telling the experiences of others. An incredibly powerful and important book. It should be noted that because Solzhenitsyn relied on oral sources from fellow prisoners and incomplete documentary records, his work is both highly anecdotal as well as incorrect in some facts.

The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin's Special Settlements - Lynne Viola, 2007

Along with the gulags, there were also the “special settlements”, where entire communities were relocated to wholesale. A very good book on this particular form of exile that existed under Stalin. 

Злой Дух Ямбуя (The Evil Spirit of Yambuy), 1979

A great film about a scientific expedition that encounters a ferocious, man eating, evil bear. Along with being a fun adventure, the film offers a great depiction of the native Siberian Evenks, a reindeer herding people, as well as northern Siberia’s formidable natural conditions.

Far East - From Lake Baikal to the Pacific. This section includes Russia’s relations with China, Japan, Korea and other East Asian countries. Russian Alaska is also included, as it was logistically an extension of the Far East and the furs harvested there were transported to Trans-Baikal and exported to China

The Russian Far East: A History - John J. Stephan, 1996

An excellent, broad overview of the history of the Russia’s Far East. An excellent starting point to begin learning about this region.

Russia, Mongolia, China (2 volumes) - John F. Baddeley, 1919

Baddeley’s two volumes focus on Russia’s diplomacy with the Mongolians and Chinese in the 17^th century. Volume 1 contains preliminary essays on the topic, and volume 2 contains translations of the records of Russia’s earliest diplomatic missions to the Mongols and to China, including those of Petlin, Baykov, and Sparthary. Both volumes are quite dense. Volume 2 is more valuable than volume 1.

Spies and Scholars: Chinese Secrets and Imperial Russia's Quest for World Power - Gregory Afinogenov, 2020

This book examines the history of Russia’s knowledge of China. This is not a good book itself, but its bibliography could be very useful for those wishing to dive deeper into this subject.

Imperial Russia in Frontier America: The Changing Geography of Supply of Russian America, 1784-1867 - James R. Gibson, 1976

Gibson examines the history of Russia’s North American colonies, primarily from the standpoint of logistics and supply. This is a particularly useful because it was primarily logistical problems that doomed Russia’s colonies in Alaska. An excellent starting point for learning about the history of Russian North America.

Imperial Visions: Nationalist Imagination and Geographical Expansion in the Russian Far East, 1840–1865 - Mark Bassin, 1995

Bassin’s excellent book examines how Russia acquired its Far Eastern territories from China in the 1860’s. The process was largely driven by the personal dreams of Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky, the governor of Eastern Siberia, who saw the seizure of the Amur River as a path to restore Russia’s greatness in the years after the Crimean War. A very important book on the history of Russian imperialism, and a must read on the history of the Russian Far East.

Imperial Rivals: China, Russia, and Their Disputed Frontier, 1858-1924 - S.C.M. Paine, 1996

The history of Sino-Russian relations, from Russia’s acquisition of its Far Eastern territories to the founding of the Soviet Union. The book focuses primarily on diplomacy and treaties between Russia and China, as well as Russia’s territorial ambitions towards Outer Mongolia and Manchuria.

Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China: An International History - Bruce A. Elleman and Stephen Kotkin (Editor), 2009

A collection of essays on the history of Russia’s Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), and Russia’s imperial rivalries with China and Japan in Manchuria. Originally the Trans-Siberian railway cut across northern Manchuria before the lines running along the Amur and Ussuri Rivers were built. The CER was an extra-territorial zone on China similar to the European treaty ports such as Canton and others, with its center being Harbin. The essays cover a wide range of topics, from the CER’s creation to its handing over to China following Mao’s victory in 1949.

Beyond the Steppe Frontier: A History of the Sino-Russian Border - Sören Urbansky, 2020

An excellent book examining the history of Sino-Russian frontier at the Trans-Baikal and Hulunbuir border. This is where the CER entered China, and became one of the main contact zones between Russia and China. Urbansky describes how the border was transformed from being open and porous, to being closed and heavily guarded under Stalin in response to security threats emanating out of Manchuria. 

Beyond the Amur: Frontier Encounters between China and Russia, 1850-1930 - Victor Zatsepine, 2017

A nice, short book on the history of Sino-Russian contacts along their Amur River frontier.

The Island of Sakhalin - Anton Chekhov, 1895

A travelogue about Sakhalin, the large island located east from the mainland of the Russian Far East. The primarily focus of Chekhov’s book are the island’s prison colonies and the lives of the prisoners. The book also has some interesting information about the Ainu people.

Across the Ussuri Kray: Travels in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains - Vladimir K. Arsenyev, 1961

A travelogue by Vladimir Arsenyev, the famous military-reconnaissance explorer of the Sikhote-Alin mountains, the range located north-east of Vladivostok along Russia’s Pacific coast, and friend of the Goldi trapper Dersu Uzala. Not only a great book on the region’s geography, but also its peoples, which included Koreans, Chinese and Tungusic tribes.

Дерсу Узала (2 parts) (Dersu Uzala), 1975

Directed by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and with a Russian cast, Dersu Uzala tells the story of Vladimir Arsenyev and the trapper Dersu Uzala. A magnificent film of friendship and adventure. The film also does an excellent job of depicting the region’s geography and its history as a contact zone between the Russians and various other peoples. A must watch, one of the greatest films ever.

Russia's Great War and Revolution in the Far East: Re-Imagining the Northeast Asian Theater, 1914-22 - David Wolff, Yokote Shinji and Willard Sunderland (Editors), 2018

An excellent collection of essays about the Russian Civil War in the Far East. The essays particularly focus the Japanese intervention, which saw Japan occupy Russian territories from Vladivostok up to Trans-Baikal until 1922.

Beasts, Men and Gods - Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, 1922

The memoir and travelogue by the Polish-Russian explorer Ossendowski detailing his escape from Siberia during the Russian Civil War. Along with the narration of Ossendowski’s harrowing escape, the book is most famous for its depiction of Baron von Ungern Shternberg. A former Cossack commander of Baltic German ancestry, Shternberg led a detachment into Outer Mongolia during the Russian Civil War, which secured the country’s independence from China. Shternberg went “native” alongside his Mongolian Buddhist followers, and aimed to reenter Russia and cleanse it of Bolshevism with purifying fire. Ossendowski’s tale has both an eerie and mystical feeling to it, like a Roerich painting come to life, with Shternberg himself like a real life Colonel Kurtz.

The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia - James Palmer, 2011

A popular, and highly polemical, biography of Baron von Ungern Shternberg. The author expresses quite a negative opinion not only of the Baron himself, but also of Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhism. A fun read nevertheless.

The Baron's Cloak: A History of the Russian Empire in War and Revolution - Willard Sunderland, 2014

An academic biography of Baron Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg. This is likely the best book that has been written in English about the Baron. Aside from being a biography, Sunderland uses Ungern-Sternberg as a means to examine the issue of nationality in the late-Russian Empire and the complexities involved. This was an excellent way to approach this figure since the Baron was of Baltic German origin who lived during a time of top-down Russification, and later spent much of his life either in Asia itself or with Asians. This is one of best books to read on the late-Russian Empire.

The Rise and Fall of Russia's Far Eastern Republic, 1905–1922: Nationalisms, Imperialisms, and Regionalisms in and after the Russian Empire - Ivan Sablin, 2018

A monograph on the Far East Republic, a Russian separatist regime that was partially backed by the Japanese and American interventionist forces that occupied the Far East.

Даурия (2 parts) (Dauria), 1971

Film about the Trans-Baikal Cossacks during the Russian Civil War. It tells the story of a poor Cossack boy in love with a girl from a wealthy family, and whose romance is hindered by their class differences. The film is particularly interesting as it shows how local cleavages within Russian society were sucked into the vortex of political and ideological fractions of the Civil War.

Tigers, Gold and Witch-Doctors - Bassett Digby, 1928

A travelogue from the  1920’s, set in Siberia and mostly in the Far East. Plenty of interesting moments and anecdotes.

Borodin: Stalin’s Man in China - Dan Jacobs, 1981

A biography on Mikhail Borodin, the Soviet Union’s most important representative in China during the interwar period. After seeing that communist revolutions were not breaking out across Europe following the First World War, the Bolsheviks shifted their strategy to promoting revolution in the European colonies, hoping to provoke a cascading crisis in their metropoles. Borodin was sent to advise Sun Yet-sen and the KMT, who had similar nationalist and anti-colonial aims as Mao’s CCP but was seen by the Soviets has having better chances at suceeding. Not only is Borodin’s story important for understanding Soviet history, it is also highly relevant in Chinese history as well.

Soviet Russia and Tibet: The Debacle of Secret Diplomacy, 1918-1930s - Alexandre Andreyev, 2003

A very comprehensive examination of Russian/Soviet-Tibetan relations. While Soviet-Tibetan relations did not ultimately amount to much, this book is nevertheless never interesting and well detailed.

Diplomacy and Deception: Secret History of Sino-Soviet Diplomatic Relations, 1917-27 - Bruce A. Elleman, 1997

Elleman focuses on the diplomatic history of the early Soviet Union and China. Initially the Bolsheviks made sweeping promises to return to China all of the territories and concessions that the Russian Empire had secured, but soon after reneged on many. A good book for both Sino-Soviet relations and how the Bolsheviks’ ideological ambitions clashed with the necessities of great power politics.

The Damned Inheritance: The Soviet Union and the Manchurian Crises 1924-1935 - George Alexander Lensen, 1974

This book covers the history of the Soviet Union’s policies towards Manchuria and namely the CER in the face of Chinese nationalist ambitions, and later Japanese imperialism.

The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew - Michael M. Walker, 2017

A very good book covering the Sino-Soviet border conflict over the control of the CER. While relatively minor, it is a very important episode in Sino-Soviet history. Similar to the Elleman’s book above, Walker shows how the demands of great power politics overrode socialist and anti-imperialist ideals.

Russian Politics in Exile: The Northeast Asian Balance of Power, 1924-1931 - Felix Patrikeeff, 2002

Very interesting book about the Russian diaspora’s involvement in the great power rivalries of China, Japan and the Soviet Union in Manchuria. The book is particularly useful as it discusses the economic and commercial affairs of the Russians in northern Manchuria. 

Russian And Soviet Policy In Manchuria And Outer Mongolia, 1911-1931 - Peter S. H. Tang, 1959

Useful book that discusses the Soviet Union’s often contradictory policies towards the northern frontier regions of China. While simultaneously promoting anti-imperialism and Chinese nationalism, the Soviets sought to exert control over north Manchuria and Outer Mongolia.

Burnt by the Sun: The Koreans of the Russian Far East - Jon K. Chang, 2016

A monograph on the history of ethnic Koreans in the Russian Far East, which culminated in their mass deportation to Central Asia in 1937. Stalin feared that because the Korean homeland was outside of borders of the USSR and under the control of Japan, a hostile power, the Soviet Koreans might prove to be disloyal and act as spies for Japan. The book highlights the interesting fact that the deportation was entirely organized and carried out by ethnic Koreans themselves who served in the NVKD.

Russia and Its Northeast Asian Neighbors: China, Japan, and Korea, 1858-1945 - Kimitaka Matsuzato (Editor), 2016

A very good collection of essays that primarily focus on the history of Russian-Japanese relations, and their great power rivalry over Manchuria and the Far East.

The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945: 'August Storm' - David M. Glantz, 1983

A dry, but very readable military history of the final Soviet operation in the Second World War – the assault on Japan’s empire. Three months after the war in Europe ended, the Soviet Union launched a massive attack on Japanese controlled Manchukuo, south Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and northern Korea. This is a very important book for understanding Soviet operational art and how the post-war geopolitical landscape of north east Asia was created. It should be noted that Japan still to this day claims the Kuril Islands, and as a result Russia and Japan still have not signed a peace agreement officially ending their war from 1945.

Imperial Eclipse: Japan's Strategic Thinking about Continental Asia before August 1945 - Yukiko Koshiro, 2013

This book primarily examines how Japan viewed Russia and the Soviet Union up to 1945. The book argues a provocative thesis, that Soviet entry into the war was not what prompted Japan’s capitulation. Instead, according to Koshiro Japan had planned to abandoned Manchuria and withdrawal to a preprepared line in northern Korea, and then conclude the war in such a manner that the Soviet Union and America would find themselves locked in conflict in the aftermath. Personally I did not find this thesis convincing (the author herself admits that many relevant documents were destroyed). Still interesting nevertheless.

The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World - Lorenz M. Lüthi, 2008

A very important book for understanding one of the most important developments that occurred during the Cold War. The author argues that Mao was motivated to break with Moscow primarily due to ideology: Mao rejected de-Stalinization and viewed it as a threat, Mao wanted to be the leader of the global communist movement, and that the split was the product of a purity spiral within the CCP initiated by Mao in order to shore up his authority within the party.

Rediscovering Russia in Asia: Siberia and the Russian Far East - Stephen Kotkin and David Wolff (Editors), 1995

A collection of essays covering various topics concerning the history of Siberia and the Far East, as well as post-Soviet affairs.

The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East - Sharon Hudgins, 2003

A pleasant travelogue.

The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia's Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations Since the Eighteenth Century - Alexander Lukin, 2002

An excellent book that discusses the history of Russia’s perceptions of China. A must read to understand Sino-Russian history and affairs. The author studied at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, where Russia’s diplomats and foreign area specialists are trained.

China and Russia: The New Rapprochment - Alexander Lukin, 2018

A very good book for understanding the contemporary Sino-Russian “strategic partnership”. The book is likely still very relevant today.

Central Asia - Both former Soviet Central Asia (of what Russians describe as Middle Asia) and Xinjiang (Chinese Central Asia, also known as Chinese Turkestan, Inner Asia or Sinkiang)

Russian-Turkmen Encounters: The Caspian Frontier before the Great Game - S. Peter Poullada, with Claora E. Styron (Translation), 2020

An excellent book about Russia’s early contacts with the Turkmen on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Similar to the Vikings who raided the Caspian basin in the 9^th century, the Russians sailed down the Volga established connections with the Turkmen earlier than they did with many Kazakh tribes, despite the later being geographically closer to Russian territory. The book includes both a historical narration and a translation of a diary by a Russian official tasked with negotiating with the Turkmen. A very interesting book that highlights how Russians and nomadic peoples often “talked past each other,” as they did not have shared or compatible understandings of political concepts.

The Partition of the Steppe: The Struggle of the Russians, Manchus, and the Zunghar Mongols for Empire in Central Asia, 1619-1758- A Study in Power Politics - Fred W. Bergholz, 1993

An excellent book on the three way competition between the China’s Qing Dynasty, Russia and the Zungar Mongols that focuses on the Russia’s diplomatic history with two other powers. The Zungars were the last great nomadic state to rule Inner Asia, but the Qing Dynasty and Russians with their more modernized militaries slowly encroached on the Zungars, and ultimately divided eastern Eurasia between themselves. This book focuses more so on Russia, and relies primarily on Russian language sources.

China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia - Peter C. Perdue, 2005

This book covers much of the same terrain as Bergholz’s book, but from the perspective of the Qing Dynasty. The first half of the book narrates the rise of the Qing Dynasty and its conflicts with Russia and the Zungars, while the second half discusses how the Qing Dynasty incorporated its Central Asian territories into its empire. An excellent book and a must read for the history of Central Asia.

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia - Peter Hopkirk, 1990

Hopkirk’s famous book tells the story of British explorers on India’s northern frontier, and Britain’s rivalry with Russia for lordship of Central Asia. A must-read. This book is what first sparked my interest in this entire subject matter.

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia: A Study in Imperial Expansion, 1814–1914 - Alexander Morrison, 2020

An excellent book narrating Russia’s conquest of Central Asia. Morrison’s account is academic and very readable, and skillfully balances the role of “structures” and “great men” in history. For a much longer treatment of this book, see my review here.

Morrison’s book is best read alongside Hopkirk’s “The Great Game” and Perdue’s “China Marches West.” These three books present the Anglo-Russian-Chinese competition over Central Eurasia from each of the great powers’ point of view, and explains how the current international borders of Central Asia came to be.

Russia and Central Asia: Coexistence, Conquest, Convergence - Shoshana Keller, 2019

A decent, broad overview of the history of Russia and Central Asia. This text is not particularly in-depth and has a distinctively “progressive” outlook that depicts Russia as an evil imperialist power that oppressed its subjects. This sort of moralism is worthless and inappropriate for an academic text. If nothing else, it is emblematic of how academia is increasingly made up personnel who would be moralizing preachers if they happened to live in a non-secular society.

Russian Practices of Governance in Eurasia: Frontier Power Dynamics, Sixteenth Century to Nineteenth Century - Gulnar Kendirbai, 2020

This text examines the imperial strategies and methods Russia used in order to subjugate the Kazakhs. A very interesting and useful source on the subject.

The Kazakh Khanates Between the Russian and Qing Empires: Central Eurasian International Relations During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries - Jin Noda, 2016

This book examines the history of the Kazakhs, primarily the Middle and Big Hordes, between the Qing Dynasty and Russia. If I remember correctly, this is an interesting text that discusses why the Qing Dynasty halted its expansion into Central Asia after conquering the Zungars and how Russia acquired lordship over the Kazakh from the Qing in the mid-19^th century.

For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia - Robert D. Crews, 2006

This book covers a subject that might be very surprising to many readers: that Russia effectively converted the Kazakhs to Islam in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Prior, the Kazakhs were only nominally Muslim and followed Islamic law very loosely, while retaining their older folk and shamanistic religious customs. As Russia expanded into the steppes, they sent Tatar mullahs to proselytize among the Kazakhs, under the assumption that Islam would be pacifying force among the nomads. The Russians hoped that the Islamisized Kazakhs would be subjected to mullahs and mosques regulated by the Russian state and be physically tied to mosques, thereby reducing their nomadic, wandering ways. A very interesting and important book.

The Touch of Civilization: Comparing American and Russian Internal Colonization - Steven Sabol, 2017

This book offers a comparative analysis of American and Russian colonization efforts in their steppe/prairie regions and how both Americans and Russians interacting the the indigenous peoples they encountered there, namely the Sioux and Kazakhs. While an interesting subject for a book, the level of analysis is quite basic and will not offer much new to those already moderately familiar with this topic.

The Rise and Fall of Khoqand, 1709-1876: Central Asia in the Global Age - Scott C. Levi, 2017

This excellent book examines one of the three main states that controlled Central Asia prior to the Russian conquest. Levi emphasizes how the Kokand state was created, its commercial ties with China and other neighboring states, and its wars with Bukhara, Russia and others. A very interesting book written from a unique point of view.

The Qїrghїz Baatïr and the Russian Empire: A Portrait of a Local Intermediary in Russian Central Asia - Tetsu Akiyama, 2021

An excellent book that examines the incorporation of modern day Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Empire through the biography of a local noble Kyrgyz who began his life as a nomadic warrior and bandit, and ended up becoming an officer in the Russian Imperial Army. Not only does the book offer an interesting look at early Russian-Kyrgyz relations, it also has very interesting information about the Kyrgyz. This book answered several questions that I have long had, for example, what was the main difference between Kazakhs and Kyrgyz (unlike the former, the nobility of the latter did not have Chingisid lineage).

Muraviev's Journey to Khiva Through the Turcoman Country, 1819-20 - Nikolai Muravyev-Karsky, 1977

A first hand account of a Russian diplomatic mission to the Khanate of Khiva and the Turkmen of the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. An excellent and very interesting book that contains both a narrative of the journey and a second section which has relevant data and intelligence that was collected by Muravyev-Karsky.

The Expedition to Khiva - Maksud Alikhanov-Avarsky, 1899

A first hand account of Russia’s conquest of the Khanate of Khiva in 1873 from the perspective of the Caucasus detachment. Written as a travel diary, this book is both a military-adventure text as well as a story of exploration on one of the Russian Empire’s most remote and formidable frontiers.

The author, Maksud Alikhanov-Avarsky, was a native of Dagestan and an officer in the Imperial Russian Army, who participated in the expedition as a general staff officer. Especially noteworthy, Alikhanov was fluent in the Turkic languages which allowed him to converse freely with the local Central Asians, including the Khan of Khiva himself. Thus, Alikhanov was able to report fascinating ethnographic information in his book, including the legends, culture and ways of life of the Kazakhs, Turkmen, Karakalpaks and Khivans.

This book was translated and published by the current author, and can be purchased on Amazon, available in paperback and on Kindle.

Turkestan. Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkestan, Khokand, Bukhara, and Kuldja (2 volumes) - Eugene Schuyler, 1876

A travelogue written by an American diplomat. A very comprehensive travelogue, as Schuyler visited a wide swath of Russian Central Asia.

From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor - Nikolay Przhevalsky, 1877

A travelogue by one of Russia’s greatest explorers of his expedition across the Tianshan Mountains and the Tarim Basin to the lost Silk Road oasis kingdom of Loulan at Lop Nor Lake. Loulan flourished in ancient times but as rivers changed their course Lop Nor dried up and the kingdom likewise disappeared. Przhevalsky’s account of the people living in absolute poverty in the salty marshes of what is left of Lop Nor is particularly memorable.

The Dream of Lhasa - Donald Rayfield, 2013

A good biography of Nikolai Przhevalsky, and his expeditions in the Russian Far East, and in the Inner Asia border lands of the Qing Dynasty. The title is quite fitting, as Przhevalsky dreamed of reaching the Tibetan capital and approached it more than once, but failed to get there due to intervening circumstances. Rayfield is quite hostile to Przhevalsky who he accuses of being an arch-imperialist among other things, but these attacks can be disregarded.

The Revolt of 1916 in Russian Central Asia - Edward Dennis Sokol, 1954

A good overview of a major revolt that broke out in Semireche and elsewhere during the First World War due to heavy taxation and conscription of local Kazakhs.

Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia - Peter Hopkirk, 1984

As revolution failed to break out across Europe, the Bolsheviks turned east and tried to create anti-colonial uprisings across India, China and elsewhere in Asia. A great book on how the “Cold War” between the Soviet Union and the West in fact began decades before the Iron Curtain fell across Europe.

Mission To Tashkent - F.M. Bailey, 1946

An amazing memoir by a British spy tasked with infiltrating Russian Central Asia during the Russian Revolution to recon what was happening in Britain’s Great Game rival. Bailey was soon detected by the Bolsheviks as a British spy and was forced to go into hiding and plot his escape. The highlight of the book is when Bailey, disguised as an Austrian, is hired by the cheka (predecessor to the KGB) and tasked with tracking himself down.

Alone Through the Forbidden Land - Gustav Krist, 1937

Another great memoir by an Austrian prisoner of war, taken by Russia during the First World War, and his escape from Central Asia during the Russian Civil War.

Белое Солнце Пустыни (White Sun of the Desert), 1970

A great Soviet “Westerner” about a Red Army soldier who is heading home to Russia, but gets caught up in a struggle against local bandits. Set in Turkmenistan on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the film is a great adventure story. It is quite funny as well, although I am not sure whether the humor was intentional or not. A must see.

Телохранитель (Bodyguard), 1970

A great, largely unknown film set in Tajikistan during the Russian Civil War, about a local Tajik tasked with escorting a prince over the Pamir mountains while being hunted by Basmachi, anti-Soviet Islamic guerillas who were the Bolshevik’s primary opponent in Central Asia.

Making Uzbekistan: Nation, Empire, and Revolution in the Early USSR - Adeeb Khalid, 2015

A good book on the creation of Uzbekistan, which is was formed from joining the territories of the former khanates of Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand. Khalid focuses in particular on the Jadid movement, who sought to reform and modernize in a way that would be in harmony with Islam.

Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan - Adrienne Lynn Edgar, 2004

A good book on the creation of Turkmenistan. Of all Central Asians, the Turkmen were some of the least developed people, with many being completely unable to read, thus the Soviet project to create a Turkmen nation was particularly promethean.

The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic - Paul Bergne, 2007

The creation of the Tajiks is particularly interesting, because prior to the Soviet Union it was not really a territoriality defined nationality, but merely an ethnonym for Iranic speakers. For example, many urban residents of what would become Uzbekistan were Tajiks. This is a very interesting book on how exactly Tajikistan as a territorial unit came to be, how Central Asia gained its confused borders, and how the local Tajik government influenced policy making in Moscow.

The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin - Mukhamet Shayakhmetov, 2006

A good book examining the top-down modernization of the Kazakhs during the Stalin era, covering collectivization, famine and sedentarization from the standpoint of someone who lived through it.

Uyghur Nation: Reform and Revolution on the Russia-China Frontier - David Brophy, 2016

An excellent book that covers both the creation of the modern Uyghur nationality by the Soviet Union, and its later adoption and by the People’s Republic of China. Brophy also covers the history of the Soviet-Chinese frontier in Central Asia, which it extremely interesting itself. A very interesting book that must be read to understand Xinjiang and the Uyghurs.

Xinjiang and the Modern Chinese State - Justin M. Jacobs, 2016

This book examines the political history of Xinjiang during the 1920’s and 1930’s, and how it was eventually reabsorbed by the central Chinese state under Mao after 1949. Following the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Xinjiang was de facto autonomous and was run by a succession of Chinese dominated regimes in Urumqi. This book shows how despite only constituting around 5% of Xinjiang’s population at the time, the Han managed to remain in control of the province. During this period the Soviet Union aimed to turn Xinjiang into a protectorate or a satellite state similar to Outer Mongolia. It achieved this under the Sheng Shicai, but this arrangement collapsed during the middle of the Second World War. Along with being a very important book regarding the history of Xinjiang and China, it is also very important for the history of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy to China and how Stalin viewed the Soviet Union’s borderlands.

The Keeper of Antiquities - Yury Dombrovsky, 1965

An excellent novel set in Almaty, capital of Soviet Kazakhstan, during the Stalin era. The novel beautifully depicts the city of Almaty and its surroundings. The novel highlights the “gleichschaltung” of the Stalin era. Meaning “coordination”, gleichschaltung was the policy of Nazification during the Third Reich, where for example, a skiing club or the historiography of medieval Central Asia would have to fully embrace the Nazi party and ideology. Not only could nothing oppose state ideology, but everything was required to conform to state ideology and whatever the current party line was at the time. In other words, all aspects of life were politicized under a totalitarian regime where no organization or public thought could exist outside of the confines of the state. The book and its depiction of Stalinist “gleichschaltung” is particularly relevant in light of the current push for “diversity” and other progressive values today, which in principle is a program of totalitarian control no different than what the USSR or Nazi Germany sought to achieve, just less murderous for now. The author Yury Dombrovsky was arrested several times for political reasons, and was eventually beaten to death by the KGB in the 1970’s.

Inhuman Land: Searching for the Truth in Soviet Russia, 1941-1942 - Józef Czapski, 1949

A great memoir about the creation of the Ander’s Army, which was made up of Polish officers who were not murdered at Katyn and were later allowed to leave the Soviet Union and join the Western allies. The Ander’s army would march across Soviet Central Asia, Persia, and Mesopotamia to reach British Palestine, and would later fight in Italy alongside the Western allies.

Pivot Of Asia: Sinkiang and the inner Asian frontiers of China and Russia - Owen Lattimore, 1950

An interesting book about the geopolitical importance of Xinjiang in the context of the mid-20^th century.

Jamilia - Chingiz Aitmatov, 1958

A love story set in Kyrgyzstan during the Second World War. Aitmatov is Kyrgyzstan’s most famous and acclaimed author.

The White Steamship - Chingiz Aitmatov, 1957

A great novel about how modernization and development of the post-war era resulted in the Kyrgyz losing touch with the traditional customs and culture, and becoming detached from nature. The highlight of this book is its retelling of Kyrgyz folk tales and descriptions of Lake Issyk Kul.

Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan - Artemy M. Kalinovsky, 2018

A very interesting book on how the post-Stalin Soviet Union carried out a number of mega-industrial projects in Tajikistan, which was one of the USSR’s most remote and poor republics. These projects, such as massive hydroelectric dams, were then used as a showcase to visitors from the third world as proof that the Soviet Union was not a colonist power and was sincere in its aims to help other former colonial countries develop as well.

Дикое Поле (Wild Fields), 2008

A film about a Russian doctor living in a lonely settlement on the remote steppes of Kazakhstan. A great movie full of ennui.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan - Lester W. Grau, 1996

A translation of a study published by the Soviet Union’s Frunze Military Academy reviewing how the Red Army fought in Afghanistan. This is an incredibly important book in terms of understanding why the Soviet Union lost in Afghanistan. Not only are the Red Army’s tactical failures on full display, but many things came be inferred from these tactical failures which, in hindsight, indicative of the poor health of the USSR.

The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet Afghan War - Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester W. Grau, 1998

A companion text to “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” which studies the war from the perspective of the Mujahedeen. The book is based on interviews with former fighters. An interesting book on successful guerilla tactics that should be read alongside its companion.

Братство (Leaving Afghanistan), 2019

A good film about the final days of the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan. The movie was filmed in Dagestan.

The Resurgence of Central Asia: Islam or Nationalism? - Ahmed Rashid, 1994

A basic overview of each Central Asian country in terms of its history, culture, geography and other characteristics. A good book for someone who knows little to nothing about the region.

Рэкетир (Racketeer), 2007

A Kazakh crime film set in Almaty immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union about a boxer who becomes a gangster. An enjoyable film that highlights how athletes often came to power in many former communist countries, either as politicians or as criminals aligned with oligarchs. Putin is the best example of this, and many other such examples of athletes turned gangsters can be found in Paul Klebnikov’s “Godfather of the Kremlin.”

Miscellaneous - Books that are difficult to categorize geographically

Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present - Christopher I. Beckwith, 2009

This book in not about Russia per say. Beckwith discusses the world of Eurasia prior to Russia’s conquest, and thus the world that Russia, as well as China, ultimately put an end to. Russia, and later the Soviet Union, brought modernity to Eurasia and effectively ended the “Silk Road.” Beckwith does a great job of outlining what this world was like, and towards the end of the book he discusses the problems with modernity and how our concepts of “progress” are basically fake, ideologically constructed mirages. His emphasis on trade and commercial access as being the main motivating factor behind Eurasian states is important too. The contents of this book are especially important to keep in mind when considering the new Silk Road that China is creating.

The Russian Empire and the World, 1700-1917: The Geopolitics of Expansion and Containment - John P. LeDonne, 1996

An excellent book that examines the expansion of the Russian Empire from a geopolitical framework.

Peopling the Russian Periphery - Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Abby M. Schrader and Willard Sunderland (Editors), 2007

A very good and broad collection of essays that covers the colonization of Russia’s peripheral territories.

Internal Colonization: Russia's Imperial Experience - Alexander Etkind, 2011

While not about Asia itself, this very interesting book examines how Russia, even its “European” territories, were effectively a colonial subject of their political and cultural center. The clearest example of this would be how Peter the Great enacted a top-down Westernization and modernization of Russia which even required the nobility to “Westernize” in appearance by shaving their beards and dressing like Europeans. Stalin’s modernization and industrialization program could be understood similarly, after all, communism was as much a German idea as it was Jewish, as it sought to harness and prefect Faustian technics. Typically it is thought that Asia is the colonial subject of Europe, but as Etkind shows, this framework does not really apply to Russia, and if anything Russia is an foreign, semi-oriental colony of Europe.

The Russian General Staff and Asia, 1800-1917 - Alex Marshall, 2006

An excellent book that examines the strategic outlook of the Russian Empire’s military leadership towards Asia, and towards Russia’s great power rivals in Asia. A must read on the subject that answers many questions that a reader might have.

Russian Orientalism: Asia in the Russian Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration - David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, 2008

A very interesting book that examines how Russians viewed the orient, though the eyes of its writers, painters and other cultural figures. As Russia itself is often seen from the outside and often sees itself as being at least partially Asian, Russians saw the orient quite differently than how Europeans saw it. This is an important book for understanding how Russia relates to its minorities quite differently than how Europe and America have done so in the past and still today.

The Gumilev Mystique: Biopolitics, Eurasianism, and the Construction of Community in Modern Russia - Mark Bassin, 2016

An excellent book that is both a biography of Lev Gumilev as well as an overview of this historical theories. The son of the two famous poets Nikolai Gumiliev and Anna Akhmatova, Gumilev was a historian of ancient Turkic history and developed theories explaining the process of ethnogenesis which involves the “passionarnost” (comparable to the ancient Greek word “thumos”) of a people which is in part derived from its land. Bassin is quite fair in his representation of Gumiliev and his ideas. It is surprising that Gumiliev has remained largely unknown in the English speaking world , although this is likely due to Western academia’s rejection of anything related to the concept of “ethnogenesis.” Even as a historical concept, discussions of ethnogenesis are inherently incompatible with the West’s project since 1945 to create a multicultural “universal and homogeneous state” consisting of historically uprooted, atomized and deracinated citizens. To even accept the concept of “ethnogenesis” would likely invalidate the entire project. If nothing else, Gumiliev’s theories help show that the modern West’s “nationalities policy” is based on contrived falsehoods.

Stalin and the Struggle for Supremacy in Eurasia - Alfred J. Rieber, 2015

This is an excellent book which examines how Stalin viewed Eurasia in terms of the Soviet Union’s nationalities policy and in terms of the intense great power rivalry that emerged following the First World War. The geopolitical situation the early Soviet Union found itself in was particularly fraught as it viewed itself as being in permanent conflict with the entire non-socialist world, surrounded by hostile states along its entire frontier, all in addition to being a highly heterogeneous, multiethnic state during an era when nationalism and self-determination were very much in vogue. This is a necessary book to read to understand how the Soviet Union viewed its strategic situation in Eurasia. Moreover, elements of Stalin’s thinking still inform the thinking of Russia’s current leaders today.

Last War of the World-Island: The Geopolitics of Contemporary Russia - Alexander Dugin, 2010

A short introduction to the history of Russian geopolitics. A decent introduction for people unfamiliar with the history of Russian expansion and international relations, but better books can be found concerning this topic. Dugin’s description of Russia as a “land power” and America as a “sea power” is largely wrong in my opinion. Russia was itself created by Vikings who sailed down from the Baltic, and then was later expanded by Cossacks who utilized the rivers of northern Eurasia to reach the Near East and the Pacific Ocean. His downplaying of Russia’s naval and maritime history and nature is strange and largely ideological. Moreover, America since the Second World War has arguably been more of an air-space power than a naval one. The paradigm that Dugin presents is largely useless, but interesting all the same.

Articles

"Stalin, Man of the Borderlands," Alferd J Rieber, The American Historical Review 106, no. 5, pages 1651-1691, 2001

An interesting article that argues that Stalin’s mode of governance was informed by the cultural milleu he came from, namely the Caucasus. The early Soviet state and the regime Stalin created were highly clannish, and Stalin himself often remembered slights from years ago and paid them back ruthlessly. According to Rieber this is because the culture of the Caucasus is highly clannish with revenge killings being the norm. Rieber oversimplifies things but his argument is probably true to a certain extent.

“Abkhazia: Patronage and Power in the Stalin Era” - Timothy Blauvelt, Nationalities Papers Volume 35, 2007 - Issue 2, pages 203-232, 2007

A great article that narrates the history of Abkhazia during the Stalin era and highlights how the purges of the Stalin era intersected with his nationalities policy. This article is also very important for understanding why Abkhazia sought independence from Georgia after 1991.

“The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism” – Yuri Slezkine, Slavic Review Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer, 1994), pp. 414-452

A very interesting article on how the Soviet Union managed ethnic relations in terms of its ethno-territorial structure. Slezkine equates the USSR to being a communal apartment, where each nationality had its own room, all while the Russian majority occupied the hallway. While each ethnicity was given its own space, the Russian ethnicity became a common area where anyone could enter. This is a particularly important article for understanding the state of the Russian identity after 1991 and what it means to be Russian today. Slezkine’s analogy is also increasingly relevant for the status of Anglo-Saxons within Anglosphere countries, whose position is more and more resembling the position Russians found themselves in under the USSR.

1. “The Ballad of East and West,” Rudyard Kipling, 1889

2. “Beyond Good and Evil” (Aphorism 208), Friedrich Nietzsche, 1886