A competent history providing an overview of the political and social history of Uzbekistan & Tajikistan from the tail end of the Russian Empire to the US invasion of Afghanistan. Here we see the region switch hands between puppet emirs, Islamist bandits, nascent revolutionary governments, the Soviet Union, mujahideen, post-collapse Russia, various factional coalitions and even more Islamist groups.

Where this succeeds is in creating a coherent and understandable picture of 100 years of change that's digestible to someone with very little knowledge of central Asia. So much of the history of Uzbekistan & Tajikistan was directed by and overlapped with its neighbours, nestled as they are between Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China. Whitlock doesn't get bogged down in excessive diversion, and keeps the narrative tight by focusing on two families who play a part in the full period covered.

The common thread through the several regime changes is the conflict between Islamism and secularism in its various forms. Though underlying causes of the conflicts the countries underwent in the 20th century varied, they almost always manifested in this line between Islamism and secularism. The efforts to find a balance to this is shown to be the story of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan finding their identity, under both Russian Empires and now in their independence.