Life at the Edge of the Empire: Oral Histories of Soviet Kyrgyzstan - Paperback

by Sam Tranum (Author)

The 35 oral histories in this English-language anthology touch on events including: Urkun; World War I; sedentarization; collectivization; World War II; the post-war reconstruction period; Stalin s death; the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras; independence; and privatization. The interviewees talk about language, religion, the roles of men and women in society, their school days, their war experiences, migration issues, deported nationalities, agriculture, food, and entertainment. The first edition was published with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the American University of Central Asia. This is the second edition.

Author Biography

Sam Tranum holds a B.A. from Antioch College and an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago. He served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan from 2004-2006 and taught journalism at the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan from 2007-2009. He has worked as a reporter at the Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Florida, and the Energy Intelligence Group in Washington DC. He has worked as an editorial consultant at The Statesman in Kolkata.