Samarkand, Boukhara, Khiva: centered around these Central Asian cities is a spectacular artistic heritage of architecture and decoration that has remained, until recently, just out of reach of globalization. The informed text and architectural detail captured in color photography, plans, and notes of Samarkand reinstates the magnificent mosques, fortresses, and residences to their proper place in the study of Islamic art. The volume pays tribute to a culture of building that withstood cycles of conquest and continued to thrive until Soviet power set in, preserving some of the most authentic building details in Asia.

Pierre Chuvin spent five years in Tashkent as the director of the Institut français d'Etudes sur l'Asie Centrale, and in 1996 founded the French-language magazine Cahiers d'Asie centrale.

Gérard Degeorge is an architect and historian of the Arab world who teaches architecture at the Ecole d'Architecture de Paris-la-Seine. His most recent works include The Art of the Islamic Tile (Flammarion, 2002).

The great Islamic khanates of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva were in the middle of the Silk Route that ran between China and Europe to the north of the Persian empire. Long viewed by Europeans as distant, dangerous, and romantic destinations, they were finally conquered by the Russians in their expansionary push to the east and south. Once again independent following the collapse of the Soviet Union, they have gained the interest of the West as it struggles to understand the culture and history of Islamic Central Asia. In this work, photographs of buildings and artwork by French photographer and architectural historian Degeorge illustrate the text by Chuvin, who spent five years at the French Institute for Central Asian Studies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Previously published in France, this English-language edition has a readable translation that retains the meandering style of French academic writing. The history and architecture of each of the three cities are covered well in both the beautiful color photos and the text, although the formal tone leaves the reader with no impression of contemporary life. Best suited for academic and large public libraries.-David McClelland, Philadelphia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.