Inside

steppe seven

A CENTRAL ASIAN PANORAMA WINTER 2009 – 2010

Editor’s Welcome 5 Welcome from the Editor, with map courtesy of Markus Hauser

Dispatches 6 Back to Grass Roots, by Chris Alexander, Dana Abizaid, Samuel Omans and Alyssa Moxley

Features 36 A Tale of Two Cities: Kabul and Herat, by Jolyon Leslie and Habib Noori, with

photographs by Nick Danziger s 56 Anna Akhmatova in Tashkent, by Sian Glaessner and Elaine Feinstein, with photographs s by Max Penson s 68 From Melons to Madness: Water in Central Asia, Part II, by Alexander Morrison, with

photographs by Carolyn Drake

Culture 13 Events, exhibitions and music around the world

Books 16 Feature Book Review: China Western, reviewed by Steppe

s 20 Christian Tyler admires Dragon Fighter: One Woman’s Epic Struggle for Peace with China s 21 Gulnara Kasmambetova responds to Ballad of Forgotten Years s 22 Michael Steen assesses Murderers in Mausoleums s 22 Christian Tyler discovers Traces in the Desert and recognises Mysteries of the Gobi s 23 Steppe admires the building of The Aga Khan Museum

sOn the Shelf 24 Great Game literature, by Bijan Omrani

Fine Lines 30 Rustam Khalfin, by Viktor Misiano

Food 104 A Pamiri Harvest, with text and photographs by Matthieu Paley

Regulars 110 Hotel: Silk Road Hotel Bamiyan – A Land of Incongruities, by Llewelyn Morgan

Steppe Guide 88 Eagle Hunting, by Rebecca Schultz, with photographs by Philipp Engelhorn

Snapshots 10 Close Shave in Naryn, by Christopher Herwig

s 28 Suffering, Not Suffrage, by Banaras Khan s 102 Hui Mosque, by Carlos Spottorno

Top Ten 34 Small Embroideries, with text by Nick Fielding

Last Word 112 Afghans to the Top, as told to Ian MacWilliam

Cover Photograph: A hunter with his eagle, Xinjiang Province, China, by Philipp Engelhorn