Books by S. Frederick Starr
S. Frederick Starr is Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the American Foreign Policy Council. Beginning his career in archaeology in Turkey, he went on to serve as founding chairman of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at The Wilson Center, vice-president of Tulane University, and president of Oberlin College and the Aspen Institute. His two dozen books and hundreds of other writings focus on the interaction of culture and politics and cover architecture, diplomacy, history, political science, and music.
“Also hailing from central Asia are the main protagonists of The Genius of Their Age: Ibn Sina, Biruni and the Lost Enlightenment by S. Frederick Starr. It’s a dual biography of Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna) and Biruni, key figures in the flowering of science and philosophy that took place in the Islamic world in the Middle Ages. Both men were born in the 10th century in modern-day Uzbekistan. This is an important period for anyone interested in the history of science, a missing gap in Western curricula (at least in my day).” Read more...
Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in Early 2024
Sophie Roell, Journalist
“I picked this because it is a modern and fairly comprehensive study of Xinjiang and because, in many ways, it echoes the work that Lattimore did in the 1950s by getting together a group of people in a workshop and providing them with the kind of resources that only the United States can manage. There are a dozen or so authors. Between them, they have looked at the same kind of issues that Lattimore examined in the 1950s and their work brings the story up to the present day. Different sections of the book consider topics as diverse as the economy, demography, education, the current state of Islam and the presence of the military in Xinjiang. Many books on Xinjiang have appeared over the last 10 years and this is one of the more substantial of them.” Read more...
The best books on Uyghur Nationalism
Michael Dillon, Historian
Interviews with S. Frederick Starr
The best books on Central Asia’s Golden Age, recommended by S. Frederick Starr
Central Asia’s history is rarely a focus for students in the West, but its flourishing cities and great thinkers once made it one of the world’s most dynamic and important regions. Frederick Starr, a leading expert on Central Asia and author of a number of books about it, talks us through the highlights of an area that was so much more than just a stopping place on the ancient Silk Roads.
Interviews where books by S. Frederick Starr were recommended
The best books on Uyghur Nationalism, recommended by Michael Dillon
It’s hard to understand what’s going on in the Xinjiang region of China and the nationalism of the Uyghurs who live there without reading some history. Here Professor Michael Dillon, a historian at King’s College London, suggests books to read on the Uyghurs, focusing in particular on scholars and diplomats whose work gives insight into the period before the Chinese Communist takeover in 1949.
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1
The Shortest History of Economics
by Andrew Leigh -
2
Maurice and Maralyn: A Whale, a Shipwreck, a Love Story
by Sophie Elmhirst -
3
Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan
by Ruby Lal -
4
How the World Made the West: A 4,000-Year History
by Josephine Quinn -
5
Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense
Saul Perlmutter, Robert MacCoun and John Campbell
Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in Early 2024, recommended by Sophie Roell
Nonfiction Books to Look Out for in Early 2024, recommended by Sophie Roell
From the origins of sex to the effects of social media, from the invention of the wheel to the race against climate change, Five Books editor Sophie Roell gives an overview of the new nonfiction books appearing in January, February and March of 2024.
The best books on Central Asia’s Golden Age, recommended by S. Frederick Starr
Central Asia’s history is rarely a focus for students in the West, but its flourishing cities and great thinkers once made it one of the world’s most dynamic and important regions. Frederick Starr, a leading expert on Central Asia and author of a number of books about it, talks us through the highlights of an area that was so much more than just a stopping place on the ancient Silk Roads.
