Between the tenth and sixteenth centuries Central Asia was one of the most prestigious cultural areas of the entire Muslim world, playing a pivotal role in the Silk Road trade. Throughout that history, and up to the present, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and other Muslim peoples of Central Asia have developed their own unique understanding and practice of Islam which has shaped their national identity and particular social and political evolution. These special characteristics of Central Asian Islam ensured its survival during seventy years of Soviet atheist rule, while in the post-Soviet period Islam has been integrated into nation-building projects in constitutionally secular Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. This absorbing history is traced in this fascinating study which shows how, from the seventh century to the present day, the region’s people have negotiated their distinctively Central Asian Islamic identity in the face of enduring external Islamic and non-Islamic dominations, ethnic nationalisms and, more recently, global transnational Islamic influences.

Overall, this book is a remarkable contribution to contemporary area studies, particularly in relation to positioning Islam’s role in the history of Central Asian Muslims, as well as in their current political, spiritual, economic and societal affairs. -- Elmira Akhmetova * The Muslim World Book Review, Vol. 40, No. 4 *
Galina Yemelianova’s Muslims in Central Asia is a unique study which traces the history of Muslims and Islam in what, in the 19th century, became Russia- and later Soviet-controlled Central Asia. In this meticulously researched book, Yemelianova offers a panoramic overview of the political, economic, cultural and religious developments in this part of Central Asia from the Russian takeover to the present day and explains which factors make it 　so distinct. This is a much-needed book about the region which is still poorly understood in the West despite its importance in the current geopolitical dynamics. * Vera Tolz, The University of Manchester *

Galina M. Yemelianova has researched and taught for over thirty years on various aspects of Middle Eastern and Eurasian history and contemporary Muslim politics. Among her books are Russia and Islam: A Historical Survey (2002), Islam in post-Soviet Russia (2003) and Radical Islam in the former Soviet Union (2010).