Life At the Edge of the Empire: Oral Histories of Soviet Kyrgyzstan

The 35 oral histories in this 256-page, English-language anthology touch on events including: Urkun; World War I; sedentarization; collectivization; World War II; the post-war reconstruction period; Stalin s death; the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras; independence; and privatization. The interviewees talk about language, religion, the roles of men and women in society, their school days, their war experiences, migration issues, deported nationalities, agriculture, food, and entertainment. It was published with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the American University of Central Asia.