Review on: Turkestan   in the Imperial Policy of Russia:  Monography in Documents. Ed. by   T.V. Kotyukova. M.: Kuchkovo Pole, 2016.  800 p.

Abstract. In the review, a collective monograph compiled in cooperation between Russian (S.N. Abashin and T.V. Kotyukova) and Uzbek (B.M. Babadjanov and O.A. Makhmudov) historians is considered, which, in our view, reflects attempts to “unify” а look at the past of the Turkestan Governor General by joint efforts and create a controversial field around the history of the region. Returning to the “great story” within the framework of the imperial narrative, following the “Soviet” tradition to publish thematic collections of archival documents, convinces the reader that in Soviet fashion the one-sidedness of the previous and true historiography on the history of Russian Turkestan is overcome. The submitted documents refer mainly to military ranks and the local administration, as a result of which the top, not bottom approach, the opinion of strong, rather than weak in the imperial processes, is being restored. The selection of documents shows us the other face of the imperial administration or a supporter of Russia’s expansion in the East and regional politics.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Central Asia, Turkestan, conquest, annexation, Islam, administration.