Beyond the Oxus Book

long the banks of the river once called Oxus lie the heartlands of Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Cata-pulted into the news by events in Afghanistan, just across the water, these strategically important, intriguing, and beautiful countries remain almost completely unknown to the outside world. In this book, Monica Whitlock takes us far beyond the common clichs and prejudices about both the Soviet Union and the Muslim world to reveal a much richer and more interesting reality. Using eyewitness accounts, unpublished letters, and firsthand reporting, she illuminates the lives of the Central Asians and reveals a dramatic and moving human story that unfolds across three generations. Beyond the Oxus is both a chronicle of a century and a clear-eyed, authoritative view of contemporary events.