The Volga Tatars: A Profile in National Resilience (Hoover Institution Press Publication)

This is primarily an intellectual history of the Kazan Tatars over the last 200 years. It tells a fairly standard story of a non-European people reacting to modernity, in the special case of a Muslim community that had been under semi-European rule since 1552. The most interesting fact is that Kazan had intellectual links to Bukhara and Samarkand as well as Istanbul and St Petersburg. Those seeking a full history of the Kazan Tatars, especially in the early period, will have to look elsewhere.

This is a well-written book, comprehensively tracing the history, culture, and politics of the Tatarstan region from ancient times to the Soviet era. The author draws from a wealth of Turkish and Tatar source documents and articles, covering every issue from religion to education to ethnic identity. Interesting Tatar poems are included as well.