{"product_id":"postcards-from-stanland-journeys-in-central-asia-paperback-softback-9780821421772","title":"Postcards from Stanland; Journeys in Central Asia (Paperback \/ softback) 9780821421772","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003ePostcards from Stanland\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eJourneys in Central Asia\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eDavid H. Mould (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780821421772\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 31 January 2016\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e324 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"An illuminating travelogue through Central Asia…. As a genial travel guide, Mould, an academic who doesn't write like an academic, shows how one should resist the temptations to stereotype a culture too easily and understand it too quickly.\" (Kirkus Reviews) \"Mould is the ideal author to demystify the region and its people…. (An) accomplished tome that covers topics ranging from culture and politics to history, the environment, economics, and human rights. Of particular interest are sections that probe national identity; the literary landscape of Semay, Kyrgyzstan; and his overall impression of Central Asia. VERDICT: With a sense of humor, Mould's memoir will…stimulate interest in this lesser-known region.\" (Library Journal) \"Books providing\u003cbr\u003e  a stimulating, readable survey of the five countries that straddle Europe and Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—targeted at those with little or no existing knowledge are few and far between. David H. Mould's \u003ci\u003ePostcards from Stanland\u003c\/i\u003e promises to be a notable exception. …The western traveler to Central Asia is rare. One with the patience, enthusiasm and attention to detail to provide a considered and mostly vivid portrait…is rarer still. For that reason, \u003ci\u003ePostcards from Stanland\u003c\/i\u003e is a valuable contribution to the literature on the region.\" (New Eastern Europe) \"\u003ci\u003ePostcards from Stanland\u003c\/i\u003e is an ambitious undertaking, encompassing the history, politics, sociology and local color of a part of the world almost unknown and often misunderstood outside the territory. We would all do well to study and learn more from Mould's observations.\" (Book Reporter) \"\u003ci\u003ePostcards from Stanland\u003c\/i\u003e is strongest when it discusses the subtleties of national and ethnic identity and the way the past affects the present.\" (The Asian Review of Books) \"An engagingly written exploration of a remote, multifaceted, strategically vital and intriguingly complex region of the world.\" \"The book's mixture of personal anecdotes, political analysis, historical background, and cultural commentary makes it both an enjoyable and instructive read. … With its rich depiction of life in Central Asia and authoritative yet accessible style, \u003ci\u003ePostcards\u003c\/i\u003e deserves a wide audience, from high school students to secretaries of state.\" (EurasiaNet)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCentral Asia has long stood at the crossroads of history. It was the staging ground for the armies of the Mongol Empire, for the nineteenth-century struggle between the Russian and British empires, and for the NATO campaign in Afghanistan. Today, multinationals and nations compete for the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea and for control of the pipelines. Yet “Stanland” is still, to many, a \u003ci\u003eterra incognita,\u003c\/i\u003e a geographical blank.\u003cbr\u003e Beginning in the mid-1990s, academic and journalist David Mould’s career took him to the region on Fulbright Fellowships and contracts as a media trainer and consultant for UNESCO and USAID, among others. In \u003ci\u003ePostcards from Stanland,\u003c\/i\u003e he takes readers along with him on his encounters with the people, landscapes, and customs of the diverse countries-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan-he came to love. He talks with teachers, students, politicians, environmental activists, bloggers, cab drivers, merchants, Peace Corps volunteers, and more.\u003cbr\u003e Until now, few books for a nonspecialist readership have been written on the region, and while Mould brings his own considerable expertise to bear on his account-for example, he is one of the few scholars to have conducted research on post-Soviet media in the region-the book is above all a tapestry of place and a valuable contribution to our understanding of the post-Soviet world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Ohio University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52574538334488,"sku":"9780821421772","price":18.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/postcards-from-stanland-journeys-in-central-asia-paperback-softback-9780821421772","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}