WHAT TO READ IN THE NEW YEAR

Khalid’s book Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present was published in English in 2021 and appeared in Kazakh in 2025. In it, he shows how Russian and Qing rule, followed by Soviet and Chinese domination, reshaped Central Asia, analyzing colonialism, revolutions, and national liberation movements, and revealing the deep connections that continue to shape the region today.

Akmaganbet is a Kazakhstani political scientist who set out to present one of the most complex periods in twentieth-century Kazakh history in a clear and accessible manner. The Kazakh-language edition of the book was reprinted three times before appearing in Russian translation. Its success is largely attributable to the author’s lucid and expressive style, which effectively conveys both empirical material and the results of scholarly research on the Alash Orda movement.

The book introduces readers to the political program of the Alash Orda leaders, rooted in the liberal-democratic ideas of the Enlightenment. It demonstrates how the views of popular figures like Shoqan WalikhanoviShoqan Walikhanov (1835–1865) was a Kazakh ethnographer and explorer, celebrated as the first Kazakh scholar to integrate European scientific methods with a deep study of Central Asian cultures., Ibray Altynsarini Ibray Altynsarin (1841–1889) was a Kazakh educator, reformer, and writer, considered the founder of modern secular education for the Kazakh people under Russian rule., and Abai QunanbaiulyiAbai Qunanbaiuly (1845–1904) is the foundational figure of modern Kazakh literature and a revered national poet-philosopher. shaped the intellectual worldview of the Alash movement.

Sultan Akimbekov is a prominent Kazakhstani historian and political scientist, and the author of several seminal studies on Kazakhstan’s history. His book The History of the Steppes: The Phenomenon of the Chinggisid State in Eurasian History explores how Chinggis Khan’s Mongol conquests reshaped the lives of Central Asian nomads and contributed to the emergence of new peoples and states.

Two lecture series by Sultan Akimbekov have been published on the Qalam website. The first focuses on the rise, development, and eventual collapse of the Kazakh Khanate from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The second examines the Russian Empire's colonization of fragmented Kazakh territories. It analyzes the fate of the Kazakh people during two revolutions, the Civil War, and Soviet-era ‘modernization’.

This book is a publication of the notes of British engineer Edward Nelson Fell, who arrived in the Kazakh steppe in 1905 as the manager of the Spassky Copper Mines company. His recollections of nomadic life—often marked by sincerity and simplicity—along with his observations of the traditions and culture of early twentieth-century Kazakhs, make this edition a valuable ethnographic source.

This year, the Qalam website also published a piece on the industrialization of the Kazakh steppe as seen through British eyes, written by Nick Fielding, a researcher focusing on travel in Central Asia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Zira Nauryzbai is a researcher of Kazakh mythology and the author of popular science and children’s books. In The Eternal Sky of the Kazakhs, she explores the traditional worldview of the Kazakhs, including TengrismiTengrism was an ancient steppe faith centered on the sky god Tengri and harmony between humans and nature., and shows how it was reflected in myths, symbols, and culture.

Zira Nauryzbai has created two lecture courses for Qalam: the first focuses on Kazakh customs associated with the key stages of human life—birth, marriage, and death—and the second examines female archetypes in Kazakh mythology.

Radik Temirgaliev is a distinguished Kazakhstani historian and the author of many influential works on Kazakhstan’s history. Kazakhs: The Path of the Ancestors is a collection of historical essays that examines the key stages in the development of the Kazakh state, highlights the lives of prominent figures, and explores the Kazakhs’ interactions with other peoples.

Temirgaliev has frequently appeared as an expert in public lectures and interviews organized by Qalam, including discussions on the historical reasons behind the division of the Kazakhs into jüzes.

Sultan Khan Akkuly is a specialist in Alash studies and a researcher of Kazakhstan’s national liberation and liberal-democratic movements, including the Alash movement and the formation of the Alash-Orda state. In this book, he provides a detailed account of the life and work of Alikhan Bökeikhan, one of the movement’s key leaders. Drawing on archival sources, Akkuly uncovers little-known episodes from Bökeikhan’s biography and sheds light on the ‘blank spots’ in Kazakhstan’s history from the 1900s to the 1930s.

This year, several of Akkuly’s works appeared on the Qalam website, including articles on the ‘constitution’ and legal framework of the prospective Alash autonomy, as well as analyses of Alash Orda’s efforts to establish diplomatic relations with foreign nations in pursuit of international recognition for the emerging state.

Togzhan Kassenova is a recognized expert in nuclear policy and the author of a book on the history of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. The Atomic Steppe provides a comprehensive chronicle of events, from the first nuclear explosion on Kazakh territory to independent Kazakhstan’s decision in the 1990s to relinquish the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal.

On the Qalam History channel on YouTube, Kassenova discussed why the Soviet authorities selected Kazakhstan for nuclear testing, how the ‘Nevada–Semipalatinsk’ movement emerged, and why the full story of the test site remains largely unknown to this day.

Darkhan Qydyrali is a public figure, journalist, and the author and co-author of numerous books, collections, and educational materials. His book Nartulga Mustafa immerses readers in the life of Mustafa Shokay, a central figure in early twentieth-century Kazakh history. Drawing on archival sources, Qydyrali traces Shokay’s socio-political journey—his work in the State Duma of the Russian Empire, his involvement in the proclamation of Turkestan autonomy, his years in exile, and a legacy that continues to provoke discussion.

The Earth Transformed: An Untold History by British historian Peter Frankopan offers a sweeping and engaging interpretation of human history through the lens of climate, showing how natural forces across centuries and continents shaped the rise and fall of civilizations. By combining vivid historical narratives with contemporary scientific research, the author demonstrates that climate has always influenced politics, economies, and the fate of empires, and reminds us that ignoring the principles of sustainability inevitably leads to catastrophe.