1. Bukharbayeva is a journalist from Uzbekistan with 22 years of experience covering Central Asia for the BBC and the Associated Press. The book is written with the clarity and diligent research style of an extended piece of journalism, and its short paragraphs, quick pacing, and moving first-person journal entries lend it scholarly-trade potential. 2. There is very little written about the interior workings of modern Uzbekistan, a notoriously insular nation operating under one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. ...
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1. Bukharbayeva is a journalist from Uzbekistan with 22 years of experience covering Central Asia for the BBC and the Associated Press. The book is written with the clarity and diligent research style of an extended piece of journalism, and its short paragraphs, quick pacing, and moving first-person journal entries lend it scholarly-trade potential. 2. There is very little written about the interior workings of modern Uzbekistan, a notoriously insular nation operating under one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Most foreign media have been banned from reporting in the country since the 2005 Andijan uprising, making Bukharbayeva's work even more significant for its rarity. 3. This book is timely in that Uzbek President Islam Karimov, in power since 1989, just died in September and has been replaced by an acting president with ties to Russian oligarchs. Uzbekistan has a tricky but important relationship with America because Uzbekistan functions as a key airbase for military action in Afghanistan.
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