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Kazakhstan

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

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Get the featured set of Essential Reading, our top picks of what to read, and get free shipping on anything else you order.

Essential Reading

Item EXCAS54. Buy these 4 items as a set for $84 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Odyssey Guide Kazakhstan

Odyssey Guide Kazakhstan

by Dagmar Schreiber

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 576 PAGES

A beautifully illustrated overview of the history, culture, architecture and nature of Kazakhstan. (CAS156, $34.95)

Apples are from Kazakhstan

Apples are from Kazakhstan

by Christopher Robbins

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 304 PAGES

Yes, apples do come from Kazakhstan. Tulips too. Robbins offers a rich cultural portrait of a remarkable country the size of Western Europe, sealed off from the world by the Tsars and Soviet Russia. (CAS160, $24.00)

The Great Game

The Great Game

by Peter Hopkirk

  • HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 565 PAGES
  • FAVORITE
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great struggle for European supremacy in Central Asia takes us over the high mountain passes and through the scorching deserts and caravan towns of the Silk Road, capturing the glamour, intrigue, treachery and adventure of the time. (CAS09, $18.00)

Kazakhstan Map

Kazakhstan Map

by Gizi Map

  • 2002
  • MAP

This excellently detailed map of Kazakhstan extends well beyond the borders to include Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as well as part of western China. (CAS107, $14.95)

 
Central Asia Map

Central Asia Map


by Nelles

  • 2011
  • MAP

An up-to-date, double-sided shaded relief map at a scale of 1:1,750,000. (CAS37, $13.95)

Northwest China Map

Northwest China Map


by MapLink

  • 2002
  • MAP

This bird's-eye map takes in the region from Dunhuang west across the Taklamakan to Almaty, Bishkek and the Pamirs. With shaded relief, archaeological sites, roads, tracks and paths, railroads and trade routes. (CHN202, $9.95)

A Hedonist's Guide to Almaty and Astana

A Hedonist's Guide to Almaty and Astana


by Lucy Kelaart

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2011
  • FLEXI-BOUND
  • 223 PAGES

The pocket guide with plenty of information on where to go and what to do covers Kazakhstan's capitals with style. (CAS158, $18.95)

Lonely Planet Central Asia

Lonely Planet Central Asia


by Lonely Planet

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 528 PAGES

A comprehensive, detailed guide to travel in the region, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. (CAS42, $32.99)

Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook

Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook


by Justin Jon Rudelson

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 239 PAGES

A handy pocket phrasebook, which focuses on pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler on the Silk Road. (CAS38, $8.99)

A History of Inner Asia

A History of Inner Asia


by Svat Soucek

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

A dense, informative survey of the changing fortunes of people in the region, with chapters on Arab conquest and Chinese expansion, Mongols, Samanids, Timurids, Uzbeks, and other kingdoms and people in the region, including the 17th-19th century development of the trading cities. With 13 maps and dynastic charts. (CAS51, $42.00)

Genghis Khan, His Life and Legacy


by Paul Ratchnevsky | Thomas Nivison Haining

  • HISTORY
  • 1993
  • PAPER
  • 336 PAGES

This scholarly biography of the 12th-century conqueror, ably translated from the German, offers great insight into life on the steppes of Central Asia and expansion of the Mongol empire. With illustrations, maps, chronology and dynastic tables and a new introduction. (MGL24, $38.95)

Kazakhstan, Unfulfilled Promise


by Martha Brill Olcott

  • HISTORY
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 321 PAGES

This revised edition of Carneigie scholar Ott's report on independent Kazakthan, brings up to date changes since 2000, centering on issues between the Slavic north and the Islamic south. (CAS176, $24.95)

Religions of the Silk Road

Religions of the Silk Road


by Richard C. Foltz

  • RELIGION
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 186 PAGES

A scholarly survey of cultural traditions, and especially religions, along the trade routes through China and Central Asia from antiquity to the 15th century. (CAS52, $28.00)

Sons of the Conquerors, The Rise of the Turkic World

Sons of the Conquerors, The Rise of the Turkic World


by Hugh Pope

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • PAPER
  • 416 PAGES

A lively, illuminating report on the Turkic speaking lands across Inner Asia from westernmost China to the Black Sea. (TKY104, $19.95)

Hundred Thousand Fools of God

Hundred Thousand Fools of God


by Theodore Levin

  • MUSIC
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 346 PAGES

An engaging account of adventures in ethnomusicology in contemporary Central Asia, Levin is a wonderful guide to musical traditions in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. With an accompanying CD featuring the traditional music of Central Asia. (CAS59, $29.95)

In the Empire of Genghis Khan, A Journey Among Nomads

In the Empire of Genghis Khan, A Journey Among Nomads


by Stanley Stewart

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2004
  • PAPER
  • 266 PAGES

Mixing anecdote and history, Stewart captures the warmth and spirit of people he encountered in this spirited tale of an epic journey across Eurasia, much of it on horseback, to Mongolia. (MGL40, $14.95)

In Xanadu, A Quest

In Xanadu, A Quest


by William Dalrymple

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 314 PAGES

Back in print! An intrepid traveler and entertaining writer, William Dalrymple deftly observed account takes in the people and places he encounters on a journey from Jerusalem across Central Asia to China along the Silk Road, ending like Marco Polo, at Xanadu, the summer palace of Kubla Khan. (CAS50, $15.95)

Khubilai Khan, His Life and Times

Khubilai Khan, His Life and Times


by Morris Rossabi

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 348 PAGES

This fascinating, scholarly portrait of the culture and politics of 13th-century Asia examines Khubilai Khan's rise to power, the submission of Korea and the attempted invasion of Japan. (CAS10, $26.95)

The Lost Heart of Asia

The Lost Heart of Asia


by Colin Thubron

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 374 PAGES

In this classic account, Thubron recounts his travels to Samarkand, Bukhara and throughout Central Asia in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union. A fine writer, intrepid traveler and insightful observer, he's an outstanding guide to the history, people and culture of the region. (CAS07, $15.99)

The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane

The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane


by Beatrice Forbes Manz

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1999
  • PAPER
  • 231 PAGES

A portrait of the great nomadic conqueror who rose to power in 1370 on the ruins of the Mongol Empire and led campaigns from Moscow to Delhi. (CAS11, $30.99)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.