Book reviews

Waqf in Central Asia: Four hundred years in the history of a Muslim Shrine, 1480–1889 R. D. McChesney Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991, 319 pp

Des Ethnies aux Nations en Asie Centrale Olivier Roy (editor) Aix‐en‐Provence, France: Editions Edisud, 1992, 162 pp, paperback

En Asie Centrale Sovietique. Ethnies, Nations, Etats Olivier Roy (editor) Paris, France: Cahiers du Monde, Russe et Sovietique, and Editions de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1991, 166 pp, paperback

Asie Centrale. Aux confins des Empires, reveil et tumulte Catherine Poujol (editor) Paris: Editions Autrement, Serie Monde 1992, 253 pp, FF98, paperback

Le Cinema d'Asie Centrale Sovietique Jean Radvanyi (editor) Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 1991, 19 pp, FF270

Red Odyssey, a Journey through the Soviet Republics Marat Akchurin London: Secker & Warburg, 1992, 431 pp, £17.99 hardback

Medieval Persia, 1040–1797 David Morgan London: Longman, 1992, 197 pp, index, bibliographical survey, £10.90, paperback

Nomad. A Year in the Life of a Qashqa'i Tribesman in Iran Lois Beck, University of California Press and I. B. Tauris, London, 1991, 489 pp, illustrated, bibliography, index, £16.95, paperback

Untying the Afghan Knot. Negotiating Soviet Withdrawal Riaz M. Khan Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992, 402 pp, notes, index, £45.00.

Afghanistan Schuyler Jones (compiler) Oxford, Clio Press: 1992, 281 pp, £43.95

Agha, Shaikh and State. The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan Martin Van Bruinessen London: Zed Books, 1992, 373 pp, bibliography, index £19.95/US$35, paperback     

History, collective memory and identity: the Tatars of sovereign Tatarstan

The present article offers a discussion of the challenges of identity construction among the Tatars of Soverign Tatarstan by highlighting the importance of collective memory in reconstructing identity in the post-colonial context. Its conclusions point to the particularly prominent role most Tatars assign to language and religion not only in identity construction, but in resurrecting and consolidating statehood as well.