Synopsis
This is a first-hand account of the genocide of the Kazakh nomads in the 1920s and 30s. Nominally Muslim, the Kazakhs and their culture owed as much to shamanism and paganism as they did to Islam. Their ancient traditions and economy depended on the breeding and herding of stock across the vast steppes of central Asia, and their independent, nomadic way of life was anathema to the Soviets. Seven-year-old Shayakhmetov and his mother and sisters were left to fend for themselves after his father was branded a "kulak" (well-off peasant and thus class enemy), stripped of his possessions, and sent to a prison camp where he died. In the following years the family traveled thousands of miles across Kazakhstan by foot, surviving on the charity of relatives. Told with dignity and detachment, this central Asian Wild Swans awakens the reader to the scale of suffering of millions of Kazakhs, and also astonishes and inspires as a most singular survivor's tale.
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About the Author
Mukhamet Shayakhmetov was a member of a traditional Kazakh nomadic tribe. His trials began early, when the Soviet government's drive to collectivise farming and herding reached the vast steppes of Russia's central Asian empire, and specifically east Kazakhstan.
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The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin
Seller: Vintage Volumes PA, Annville, PA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. 345 pages. No dust jacket. Scuffs along bottom edge. Otherwise clean and sound. Seller Inventory # ABE-1751659167856
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The Silent Steppe : The Story of A Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin
Published by
Stacey International (2006), London, 2006
ISBN 10: 1905299125
ISBN 13: 9781905299126
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Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Renaissance Books, ANZAAB / ILAB, Dunedin, New Zealand
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. Ex-library. Library labels and markings. Dust-jacket in clear plastic cover, taped to boards and endpapers.; xiv, 345, [1 (blank)] pages + 17 illustrations on 4 plate leaves. 4 maps within the pagination (2 half-page, 2 whole page). Red boards with gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 227 x 145mm. Text in English, translated from Russian. "'The Silent Steppe' is an enthralling memoir of one of the most traumatic periods of Soviet history, as seen through the eyes of a young boy growing up in a family of Kazakh nomads. It encompasses the horrors of political persecution and famine in the 1930s, and culminates in the author's first-hand account of the Battle of Stalingrad and his long trek home through freezing winter conditions after being wounded and discharged from the Red Army. This vivid personal story tells of the devastating consequences for ordinary people of political theorising and dictatorship. Shayakhmetov describes scouring the fields with his mother for a few ears of corn, and journeying alone across frozen rivers in the wolf-haunted steppe. It is a tale which chronicles the extremes of human behaviour in adversity - from the government officials feasting on delicacies while those around them starve, to the peasants who share their last scraps of food with a young visitor.It is a personal story such as has never been unfolded in print before: a vital and tragic contribution to the history of the Soviet dictatorship, told with simplicity and the heroic resignation of one who endured it and has survived to tell the tale.". Seller Inventory # 25926
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THE SILENT STEPPE The Story of a Kazakh Nomad under Stalin
Published by
Stacey International, London, 2006
ISBN 10: 1905299125
ISBN 13: 9781905299126
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: M. & A. Simper Bookbinders & Booksellers, WARRNAMBOOL, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 3 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. With photographic illustrations, A fine copy in fine dustjacket. ; 235 x 160mm; xiv, 346 pages. Seller Inventory # 24744