About the book: 2024 / Central Asia is still often perceived as a remote territory located “on the periphery” of modern history. But in fact, this region, which includes Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Chinese province of Xinjiang, stands at the crossroads of world events. Adib Khalid presents the first comprehensive history of Central Asia from the mid-18th century to the present day. After the 1700s, the peoples of the region came under Russian and Chinese rule. A Pakistani-American historian, Khalid shows how foreign conquest brought Central Asians into the global exchange of goods and ideas and led to closer ties with the rest of the world. We should not forget that the course of Central Asian history is neither predetermined nor inevitable. Everything turned out the way it did due to historical events and accidents. His research focuses on how the conquering empires and then communist states of the USSR and China dealt with the ethnic heterogeneity of the region, with its inherent national and cultural differences, as well as how historical forces and trends, from colonialism and social revolutions to nationalism and state modernization policies have shaped the modern image of Central Asia. If socialism is the victory of the proletariat, then what does this victory mean for Central Asia, where there is no industry, and therefore no proletariat??