Svat Soucek's book offers a short and accessible introduction to the history of Inner Asia. The narrative, which begins with the arrival of Islam, charts the rise and fall of the different dynasties right up to the Russian conquest. Dynastic tables and maps augment and elucidate the text. The contemporary focus rests on the seven countries which make up the core of present-day Eurasia, that is Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Sinkiang and Mongolia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, renewed interest in these countries has prompted considerable political, cultural, economic and religious debate. While a divergent literature has evolved in consequence, no comprehensive survey of the region has been attempted. Soucek's history promises to fill this gap and to become an indispensable source of information for anyone studying or visiting the region.

作者簡介：

斯瓦特·蘇塞剋，美國中亞研究學者，齣生於捷剋布拉格，畢業於美國哥倫比亞大學，在突厥學和阿拉伯學專業獲得博士學位，先後在普林斯頓大學，紐約公共圖書館東方部工作。主要作品為 《哥倫布之後皮瑞雷斯與土耳其地圖繪製》（Piri Reis and Turkish Mapmaking After Columbus）（1996），《內亞史》（A History of Inner Asia）（2000），《波斯灣的往事今昔》（The Persian Gulf: Its Past and Present）（2008）和《土耳其海戰史》（The History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks）（2012）。

譯者簡介：

袁劍，1981年生，江蘇蘇州人。中央民族大學世界民族學人類學研究中心副教授、碩士生導師。《海外民族誌研究通訊》編委、《全球史評論》（CSSCI集刊）編委、《亞洲現代思想》編委、中國濛古史學會會員。

程秀金，安徽馬鞍山人，畢業於復旦大學史地所，獲得曆史學博士學位，現為新疆大學人文學院曆史與民族學係副教授，碩士研究生導師，研究方嚮為邊疆史地和北方民族史。