Central Asia

“A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the Islamic world” (San Francisco Chronicle) In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as it looks from a new perspective: with the evolution of the Muslim community at the center. His story...

The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents...

This book shares the story of the men of Two Charlie and their fight for survival in the Arghandab River Valley, the Devil’s Playground.

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION The story of a hotel. The story of a nation. When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to...

The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams....

Frank McLynn brings vividly to life the strange world of the Mongols and describes Temujin's rise from boyhood outcast to becoming Genghis Khan....

Exactly a month has elapsed since I finished the first series of my writings—just that period of the flow of time which I intended to devote exclusively to resting the parts of my common presence subordinate to my pure reason....

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya....

The story of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is well known: the expansionist Communists overwhelmed a poor country as a means of reaching a warm-water port on the Persian Gulf. It is a great story—but it never happened....

A stunning exploration of the Greater Middle East, where lasting stability has often seemed just out of reach but may hold the key to the shifting world order of the twenty-first century “Engaging . . . Even those who resist Kaplan’s tragic sensibility have much to learn from his look at the...

Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the 16th century to the Taliban resurgence today....

Today, most Westerners still see the war in Afghanistan as a contest between democracy and Islamist fanaticism.....

As a regional direct response Quick Reaction Force in the northern Sangin river valley of Helmand Province, the Marines are immediately put to the test, narrowly avoiding one calamity after the next.

During the peak of the Afghanistan War, a group of soldiers is dropped by helicopter into the remote mountains outside of Kandahar City. Mismanaged and overlooked by command, the squad must rely on each other to survive....

“A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure.” —Ilyon Woo A riveting biography of Alexander the Great’s final years, when the leader’s insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy. By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great...

Lost Enlightenment chronicles this forgotten age of achievement, seeks to explain its rise, and explores the competing theories about the cause of its eventual demise....

Sasha Wakefield intertwines the life and legacy of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) with her own personal spiritual journey as she explores Bhutan’s rich history.

Favereau takes us inside one of the most powerful sources of cross-border integration in world history. The Horde was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the 13th and 14th centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles....

With narration by Jim Lee, who tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the Silk Road empires....

Looking to the future of the region, Conquering the North canvasses the still fractious interplay of two rival cultures and the continuing struggle for Mongolian sovereignty as China continues to edge north.

While there are many books that explore China’s history, public knowledge is still lacking....

This audiobook narrated by Jim Lee provides a rich, discovery-filled account of how a forgotten empire transformed the ancient world....

He claimed descent from Genghis Khan. He claimed to fight for God. But what he really worshipped… was conquest. This is the story of Timur, the man who turned Central Asia into a slaughterhouse and ruled an empire stitched together with blood, bone, and fear.

'Indispensable and timely' - Melissa Chan, Emmy-nominated international affairs correspondent 'Few books qualify as essential reading but Ghost Nation is one of them' - Clive Hamilton, bestselling co-author of The Hidden Hand The gripping story of Taiwan's past and precarious present from one of...

This audiobook is the story of combat from the guerrilla’s perspective and surviving against the overwhelming firepower and technology of a superpower....