In the original dust jacket. Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

• We provide an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available

Note: This book carries a £5.00 discount to those that subscribe to the F.B.A. mailing list.

Aitken describes the astonishing achievements of Kazakhstan in twenty years since independence, published to mark the 20th anniversary of its independence. “From Borat to Boom”. Jonathan Aitken has written an insightful and illuminating portrait of 21st Century Kazakhstan as it approaches its 20th Anniversary of independence from the former Soviet Union. Surprises abound in Aitken’s lively pages as he captures the creative tensions between Old and New Kazakhstan. Thanks to his unique access, the author has probed the darkest corners of the fading Soviet mentality in areas such as the prisons, the KGB stations and the torture cases. He has also enjoyed the bright lights of the country’s cultural renaissance, particularly in Almaty with its four orchestras, 19 theatres, 27 concert halls and Opera Houses. Aitken is at his best unraveling the economic and political surprises which are flowing from the Caspian oil boom with its knock on effects on foreign policy, GDP, and political reform. ‘Kazakhstan is the newest powerhouse of Asia. From its President to its painters, poets, economists and entrepreneurs, this is a nation confidently on the move.’ says Aitken ‘we need to understand the new national identity of this increasingly successful player on the world stage.’

Jonathan Aitken, a former MP and cabinet minister, is the author of 12 books, including his award-winning biography of President Richard Nixon. His recent titles published by Continuum include Pride and Perjury, Psalms for People under Pressure, Prayers for People under Pressure, Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed, Heroes and Contemporaries and Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan.