Socialism Mediated: The Making of Soviet Culture in Central Asia

When the Bolsheviks took over in Central Asia, they inherited a region that the Russian Empire had colonized less than fifty years before. Tenuously integrated into the Russian Empire and predominantly Muslim, the territories that became the republics of Central Asia were a far cry from the societies where Marxism-Leninism was forged. Despite their narrow foothold, Soviet authorities represented themselves as acting according to the will of Central Asia's people. That representation became ...