Russian Rule in Samarkand uses a comparative approach to examine the structures, personnel, and ideologies of Russian imperialism in Turkestan, taking Samarkand and the surrounding region as a case-study. The creation of a colonial administration in Central Asia presented Russia with similar problems to those faced by the British in India, but different approaches to governance meant that the two regimes often stood in stark contrast to one another. While the Russian administration was characterised by corruption and inefficiency, British rule in India was much more violent, and its subjects much more heavily taxed. Opening with the background to the political situation in Central Asia and a narrative of Russian conquest itself, the book moves on to analyse official attitudes to Islam and to pre-colonial elites, and the earliest attempts to establish a functioning system of revenue collection. Uncovering the religious and ethnic composition of the military bureaucracy, and the social background, education and training of its personnel, Alexander Morrison assesses the competence of these officers vis-á-vis their Anglo-Indian counterparts. Subsequent chapters look at the role of the so-called 'native administration' in governing the countryside and collecting taxes, the attempt to administer the complex systems of irrigation leading from the Zarafshan and Syr-Darya rivers, and the nature and functions of the Islamic judiciary under colonial rule. Based on extensive archival research in Russia, India, and Uzbekistan, and containing rare source material translated from the original Russian, Russian Rule in Samarkand will be of interest to all those interested in the history of the Russian Empire and European Imperialism more generally.

Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868-1910: A Comparison with British India (Oxford Historical Monographs)

History

Morrison, Alexander

Asia

Oxford University Press

The Russian conquest of Central Asia was perhaps the nineteenth century's most dramatic and successful example of European imperial expansion, adding 1.5 million square miles and at least 6 million people - most of them Muslims - to the Tsar's domains. Alexander Morrison provides the first comprehensive military and diplomatic history of the conquest to be published for over a hundred years. From the earliest conflicts on the steppe frontier in the 1830s to the annexation of the Pamirs in the early 1900s, he gives a detailed account of the logistics and operational history of Russian wars against Khoqand, Bukhara and Khiva, the capture of Tashkent and Samarkand, and the bloody subjection of the Turkmen, as well as Russian diplomatic relations with China, Persia and the British Empire. Based on archival research in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and India, memoirs and Islamic chronicles, this book explains how Russia conquered a colonial empire in Central Asia, with consequences that still resonate today.

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia: A Study in Imperial Expansion, 1814–1914

Europe

Cambridge University Press

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia

This is the wartime autobiography of one of the first officers to join the British Army's Glider Pilot Wing, a unique force that was at the forefront of the invasion of France and Holland in 1944. Alexander Morrison takes the reader through the D-Day invasion and describes the exacting tasks given to the regiment, tasks that provided a major contribution to the success of the sea landings. Three months later he flew into Arnhem to deliver the Airborne Anti-tank Battery. That achieved, his pilots formed a fighting unit to take part in the battle for the main bridge. Sadly, the planned relief by advancing British forces failed to materialize and the army pilots found themselves fighting for survival behind enemy lines. Eventually Morrison was captured and suffered in the hands of the Gestapo. After three months he was transferred to a large aircrew PoW camp where he helped to bring about the overthrow of the guards. The arrival of Russian forces delayed his final evacuation and created many hair-raising episodes before final freedom and a return to England became possible.

Silent invader: A glider pilot's story of the invasion of Europe in World War II

Military

Airlife/Swan Hill

Silent Invader: A Glider Pilot's Story of the Invasion of Europe in World War II (Airlife Classics)

Airlife Pub Ltd

Ascendence: Galaxy's Last Hope (The Resilience Trilogy)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science Fiction

Independently published

"The Warrior's Quill: Poems of Courage and Consequence"

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