Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan: From Communism to Capitalism

Kazakhstan is colossal in size, complicated in its history, colourful in its culture and is a nation state that most outsiders know little of. Much of the existing narrative revolves around the country's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. But his life can only be understood in the context of the land in which he was born, raised and became a leader.

For centuries the tribes of Kazakhstan had been plundered and conquered by foreign invaders. The most ruthless of these were the 20th centu...