Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

An unforgettable journey through the five former Soviet Republics—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—told by prizewinning international journalist Erika Fatland. The book follows their development since independence in 1991, exploring how ancient customs collide with gas production, how ethnic Russians relate to the majority, and how national identities take shape amid political and social change. Fatland meets witnesses of bride snatching in Kyrgyz villages, visits the nuclear test Polygon in Kazakhstan, and observes the Aral Sea’s drying banks with Chinese shrimp gatherers. She travels incognito through Turkmenistan, a country rarely opened to journalists, and records the voices of exhausted human rights activists in Kazakhstan and survivors of Osh’s 2010 massacre. The narrative moves between the treasures of Samarkand and the starkness of Soviet architecture, offering a rare, intimate travelogue that blends landscapes with people’s stories. The book is translated from Norwegian and has been recognized in travel-writing circles, including a shortlist for notable awards in 2020.

In these pages, the reader encounters a region at the edge of the former Soviet border, where time seems to flow at its own pace and where everyday life persists amid geopolitical currents.

Features

• Five former Soviet Republics explored
• Bride snatching in Kyrgyzstan villages
• Kazakhstan’s Polygon and nuclear tests
• Aral Sea vicinity with Chinese shrimp workers
• Turkmenistan visited incognito
• Osh massacre survivors and local activists
• German Mennonites’ historical ties
• Clash of customs with gas production
• Ethnic Russians versus the majority dynamics
• Samarkand and Soviet architectural landscapes
• Openness toward people and landscapes
• Rare, unforgettable travelogue