The Russian Conquest of Central Asia

Alexander Morrison is Fellow and Tutor in History at New College, Oxford. His publications include Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868–1910: A Comparison with British India (2008).

• Introduction; 1. Russia's steppe frontier and the Napoleonic generation; 2. 'Pray for the camels': the winter invasion of Khiva, 1839–1841; 3. 'This particularly painful place': the failure of the Syr-Darya line as a frontier, 1841–1863; 4. From Ayaguz to Almaty: the conquest and settlement of Semirechie, 1843–1882; 5. The search for a 'natural' frontier and the fall of Tashkent, 1863–1865; 6. War with Bukhara, 1866–1868; 7. The fall of Khiva, 1872–1873; 8. 'Those who should be spared': the conquest of Ferghana, 1875–1876; 9. 'The harder you hit them, the longer they will be quiet afterwards': the conquest of Transcaspia, 1869–1885; 10. Aryanism on the final frontier of the Russian empire: the exploration and annexation of the Pamirs, 1881–1905; Epilogue: after the conquest.

'In a masterful work of history and historiography, Morrison demolishes the 'Great Game' story of Russia's expansion, so entrenched in English language scholarship. His long-duree account of Russia's Central Asia conquests offers compelling narrative, deep dives into camels and weapons, and comparisons of battles and encounters from the pens of Central Asian participants and observers as well as the far more abundant Russian accounts.' Marianne Kamp, Indiana University