Take a Deep Dive into Your Destination
MIR recommends reading up before you leave home. The more informed you are about your destination, the more enriching your experience will be.
Central Asia
Central Asia and the Silk Road
- Reading List
- The Great Game,Peter Hopkirk
- Lonely Planet Central Asia, Lonely Planet
- The Lost Heart of Asia, Colin Thubron
- Central Asia Map, Nelles
- Samarkand, Caroline Eden and Eleanor Ford
- The Ancient Silk Road Map, Odyssey Maps
- The Silk Road, Frances Wood
- Insight Guide Silk Road, Insight Guides
- Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook, Justin Jon Rudelson
- Odyssey Tajikistan and the High Pamirs, Robert Middleton
- The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane, Beatrice Forbes Manz
- Odyssey Guide Kazakhstan, Dagmar Schreiber
- Traditional Textiles of Central Asia, Janet Harvey
- Empires of the Silk Road, Christopher I. Beckwith
- In Xanadu, A Quest, William Dalrymple
- Everyday Life in Central Asia, Jeff Sahadeo
- Birds of Central Asia, Raffael Aye
- Lost Enlightenment, S. Frederick Starr
- The Silk Road, A Very Short Introduction, James A. Millward
- The Silk Road, A New History, Peter Frankopan
- Qaraqalpaqs of the Aral Delta, David and Sue Richardson
- Vanishing Jewels: Central Asian Tribal Weavings, George O’Bannon
- The Turkic Speaking Peoples: 2,000 Years of Art And Culture from Inner Asia to the Balkans, Ergun Çağatay and Doğan Kuban
- Central Asia: One Hundred Thirty Years of Russian Dominance, A Historical Overview (Central Asia Book Series), Edward A. Allworth
Central & East Europe
East Europe
- Reading List
- The Magic Lantern, The Revolution of ‘89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague, Timothy Garton Ash
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Lonely Planet Eastern Europe, Lonely Planet
- Eastern Europe Map, Freytag & Berndt
- National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel, A Guide to Eastern Europe, Ruth Ellen Gruber
- Lonely Planet Eastern Europe Phrasebook, Lonely Planet
- Mamushka, A Cookbook, Olia Hercules
- A History of Slovakia, The Struggle for Survival, Stanislav K. Kirschbaum
- Eastern Europe!, Tomek E. Jankowski
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe, Dennis Hupchick, Harold Cox
- The Romani Gypsies, Yaron Matras
- Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History, Robert D. Kaplan
- All Rivers Run to the Sea, Elie Wiesel
- In Europe’s Shadow, Robert D. Kaplan
- The Broken Road, Patrick Leigh Fermor
- The Spies of Warsaw, Alan Furst
- The Bridge on the Drina, Ivo Andric, Lovette F. Edwards (Translator)
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
- Blog Articles
Central Europe
- Reading List
- The Magic Lantern, The Revolution of ‘89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague, Timothy Garton Ash
- The Habsburgs, Embodying Empire, Andrew Wheatcroft
- Budapest 1900, John Lukacs
- Prague, A Traveler’s Literary Companion, Paul Wilson (Editor)
- Lonely Planet Central Europe, Lonely Planet
- Central Europe Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Publications Lonely Planet Central Europe Phrasebook, Lonely Planet
- A Time of Gifts, Patrick Leigh Fermor
- Danube, Claudio Magris
- A Nervous Splendor, Vienna 1888-1889, Frederic Morton
- Danubia, A Personal History of Habsburg Europe, Simon Winder
- Germania, In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their History, Simon Winder
- Germany, Memories of a Nation, Neil MacGregor
- A Concise History of Hungary, Miklos Molnar, Anna Magyar (Translator)
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Kingdom of Auschwitz, Otto Friedrich
- Prague in Black and Gold, Scenes from Life in a European City, Peter Demetz
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
- Blog Articles
Belarus and Moldova
- Reading List
- Belarus, The Last Dictatorship in Europe, Andrew Wilson
- Culture Smart! Belarus, Anne Coombes
- Bradt Guide Belarus, Nigel Roberts
- Belarus Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Romania Moldova Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Communism: A History, Richard Pipes
- The Bielski Partisans, Nechama Tec
- Return to Diversity, Joseph Rothschild
- Soviet Blitzkrieg, The Battle for White Russia, 1944, Walter S. Dunn
- The Moldovans: Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture, Charles King
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe, Dennis Hupchick, Harold Cox
- The Reconstruction Of Nations, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Timothy Snyder
- The Romani Gypsies, Yaron Matras
- On the Road to Babadag, Andrzej Stasiuk
- The Danube, Nick Thorpe
- My Life, Marc Chagall
- Burning Lights, Bella Chagall, Marc Chagall, Norbert Guterman
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Central and Eastern European Wildlife, Bradt Guide
- Blog Articles
Bulgaria
- Reading List
- Street Without a Name, Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria, Kapka Kassabova
- The Balkans, A Short History, Mark Mazower
- Eyewitness Guide Bulgaria, Eyewitness Guides
- Bulgaria Map, Freytag & Berndt
- All Along the Danube, Marina Polvay
- A Concise History of Bulgaria, R.J. Crampton
- Black Sea, Neal Ascherson
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Balkan Ghosts, Robert D. Kaplan
- In Search of Dracula, Raymond McNally
- Lords of the Horizons, Jason Goodwin
- The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-2011, Misha Glenny
- The Fragility of Goodness, Why Bulgaria’s Jews Survived the Holocaust, Tzvetan Todorov
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe, Dennis Hupchick, Harold Cox
- Blue River, Black Sea, Andrew Eames
- The Broken Road, Patrick Leigh Fermor
- The Danube, Nick Thorpe
- Bai Ganyo, Aleko Konstantinov
- The Turkish Gambit, Andrew Bromfield, Boris Akunin
- Blog Articles
Poland
- Reading List
- Kingdom of Auschwitz, Otto Friedrich
- Culture Smart! Poland, Greg Allen
- The Zookeeper’s Wife, Diane Ackerman
- Polish, A Language Map, Kristine K. Kershul
- A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron, Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud
- Eyewitness Guide Poland, Eyewitness Guides
- Bloodlands, Timothy Snyder
- Poland Map, Michelin Travel Publications
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Heart of Europe, The Past in Poland’s Present, Norman Davies
- Night, Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel
- No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland’s Forces in World War II, Kenneth Koskodan
- The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, Alex Storozynski
- Resistance, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Israel Gutman
- Poland, James Michener
- The Essential Guide to Being Polish, Anna Spysz, Lech Walesa
- The Spies of Warsaw, Alan Furst
- The Magic Lantern, The Revolution of ‘89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague, Timothy Garton Ash
- To Begin Where I Am, The Selected Prose of Czeslaw Milosz, Czeslaw Milosz, Madeline G. Levine
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of Eastern Europe, Dennis Hupchick, Harold Cox
- Blog Articles
Romania
- Reading List
- Bury Me Standing, Isabel Fonseca
- Bucharest Map, Cartographia
- Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History, Robert D. Kaplan
- Bradt Guide Transylvania, Lucinda Mallows
- Rough Guide Romania, Rough Guide
- Culture Smart! Romania, Debbie Stowe
- Romania Moldova Map, Freytag & Berndt
- The Mountains of Romania, James Roberts
- A Concise History of Romania, Keith Hitchins
- In Search of Dracula, Raymond McNally
- Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, Julian Rubinstein
- Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Balkans, Dennis Hupchick
- The Broken Road, Patrick Leigh Fermor
- Romania, An Illustrated History, Nicolae Klepper
- Dracula, Bram Stoker
- All Rivers Run to the Sea, Elie Wiesel
- The Historian, A Novel, Elizabeth Kostova
- Between the Woods and the Water, Patrick Leigh Fermor
- In Europe’s Shadow, Robert D. Kaplan
- Blog Articles
Ukraine
- Reading List
- Borderland, A Journey through the History of Ukraine, Anna Reid
- Kiev Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Return to Ukraine, Ania Savage
- Culture Smart! Ukraine, Anna Shevchenko
- Bradt Guide Ukraine, Andrew Evans
- Lonely Planet Ukrainian Phrasebook, Lonely Planet
- Mamushka, A Cookbook, Olia Hercules
- Ukraine Map, ITMB
- Black Sea, Neal Ascherson
- Kiev: A Portrait, 1800-1917, Michael F. Hamm
- Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
- Odessa, A History, 1794-1914, Patricia Herlihy
- The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel, Isaac Babel
- Odessa, Genius and Death in a City of Dreams, Charles King
- The Cossacks, Leo Tolstoy
- The Gates of Europe, A History of Ukraine, Serhii Plokhy
- The Fixer, Bernard Malamud
- The Reconstruction Of Nations, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999, Timothy Snyder
- The Ukrainians, Unexpected Nation, Andrew Wilson
- Blog Articles
The Baltics
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
- Reading List
- Beginning with My Streets, Czeslaw Milosz, Madeline G. Levine
- The Baltic, A History, Michael North
- Eyewitness Travel Guide Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Eyewitness Guides
- Baltic States Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Culture Smart! Estonia, Clare Thomson
- Culture Smart! Lithuania, Lara Belonogoff
- A Concise History of the Baltic States, Andrejs Plakans
- A History of the Baltic States, Andres Kasekamp
- Among the Russians, Colin Thubron
- Estonia and the Estonians, Toivo U. Raun
- Set Sail for Murder, Carolyn G. Hart
- The Baltic Revolution, Anatol Lieven
- The Christening, Denise Neuhaus
- The Northern Crusades, Eric Christiansen
- The Dogs of Riga, Henning Mankell
- Walking Since Daybreak: A Story of Eastern Europe, and the Heart of Our Century, Modris Eksteins
- The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg
- Lonely Planet Baltic States Phrasebook, Eva Aras, Inna Feldbach, Jana Teteris, Alan Trei
- Blog Articles
The Balkans
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia
- Reading List
- The Balkans, A Short History, Mark Mazower
- Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History, Robert D. Kaplan
- The Bridge on the Drina, Ivo Andric, Lovette F. Edwards (Translator)
- Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Macedonia Map, Michelin Travel Publications
- DK Eyewitness Top Ten Dubrovnik & Dalmatian Coast, Eyewitness Guides
- Lonely Planet Southeastern Europe, Lonely Planet
- Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia, Rebecca West, Christopher Hitchens
- City of Fortune, How Venice Ruled the Seas, Roger Crowley
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Balkans (Palgrave Concise Historical Atlases), Dennis Hupchick
- The Balkans in World History, Andrew Wachtel
- The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-2011, Misha Glenny
- The Myth of Ethnic War, Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s, V. P., Jr. Gagnon
- To End a War, Richard Holbrooke
- How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, Slavenka Drakulic
- Once upon a Yugoslavia, Surya Green
- Bosnian Chronicle, Ivo Andric
- Girl at War, Sara Novic
- Yugoslavia, Death of a Nation, Laura Silber, Allan Little
- Blog Articles
The Middle East
Iran
- Reading List
- Taste of Persia, A Cook’s Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan, Naomi Duguid
- The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, Hooman Majd
- A History of Modern Iran, Abrahamian Ervand
- Culture Smart! Iran, Stuart Williams
- Odyssey Guide Iran, Helen Loveday
- Lonely Planet Farsi Phrasebook, Yavar Dehghani
- Iran & Tehran Map, ITMB
- The New Persian Kitchen, Louisa Shafia
- A History of Iran, Empire of the Mind, Michael Axworthy
- 44 Days, David Burnett
- All the Shah’s Men, Stephen Kinzer
- Persian Fire, Tom Holland
- Shah of Shahs, Ryszard Kapuscinski
- The Struggle for Iran, Christopher de Bellaigue
- Persepolis, The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi
- Things I’ve Been Silent About, Azar Nafisi
- The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay, Hooman Majd
- The Shah, Abbas Milani
- My Uncle Napoleon, Iraj Pezeshkzad, Dick Davis (Translator)
- The Conference of Birds, Farid-Ud-Din Attar
- Blog Articles
Iraq
- Reading List
- Iraq: The Ancient Sites & Iraqi Kurdistan (Bradt Travel Guide), Geoff Hann, Tina Townsend-Greaves
- A Modern History of the Kurds, David McDowall
- The Miracle of the Kurds: A Remarkable Story of Hope Reborn in Northern Iraq, Stephen Mansfield
- Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied, Toby Dodge
- The Modern History of Iraq, Phebe Marr
- A Concise History of the Middle East, Arthur Goldschmidt Jr
- The Fall of the Ottomans, The Great War in the Middle East, Eugene Rogan
- Making the Arab World! Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, Fawaz A. Gerges
- Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, The Making of the Prophet of Islam, Dr. Sean W. Anthony
- The Middle East Crisis Factory, Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance, Iyad El-Baghdadi, Ahmed Gatnash
- The Modern Middle East, A History, James L. Gelvin
- The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East (Short History), Roger Hardy
- Mapping the Middle East, Zayde Antrim
- The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael Provence
- The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923, Sean McMeekin
- The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History (Oxford Handbooks), Jens Hanssen (Editor), Amal N. Ghazal (Editor)
- The Crucible of Islam, G. W. Bowersock
- Understanding and Teaching the Modern Middle East (The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History), Omnia El Shakry (Editor)
- A History of the Modern Middle East 6th Edition, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton
- Orientalism, Edward W. Said
- A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
- The Venture of Islam, Marshall G. S. Hodgson
- Being Arab, Samir Kassir
- A History of Islamic Societies, Ira M. Lapidus
- State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, Roger Owen
- Over-Stating the Arab State, Nazih N. Ayubi
- The International Politics of the Middle East, Raymond A. Hinnebusch
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, David Fromkin
- The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Ibn Khaldun
- Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism, Zachary Lockman
- Water on Sand: Environmental Histories Of The Middle East And North Africa, Alan Mikhail
- A Political Economy of the Middle East, Melani Cammett, Ishac Diwan, Alan Richards
- Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Montgomery Watt
- The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Jonathan P. Berkey
- How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs, Elizabeth F. Thompson
- Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, George Saliba
- Beyond Islam, Sami Zubaida
- The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, Donald Quataert
- Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, Adeed Dawisha
- Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class, Keith David Watenpaugh
- The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World, Cyrus Schayegh
- The Arab State and Neo-Liberal Globalization: The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East, Laura Guazzone, Daniela Pioppi
- The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History, Jeremy Bowen
Jordan
- Reading List
- The Rough Guide to Jordan, Rough Guides
- Lonely Planet Jordan, Jenny Walker, Paul Clammer
- Nationalist Voices in Jordan: The Street and the State, by Betty S. Anderson
- A Concise History of the Middle East, Arthur Goldschmidt Jr
- The Fall of the Ottomans, The Great War in the Middle East, Eugene Rogan
- Making the Arab World! Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, Fawaz A. Gerges
- Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, The Making of the Prophet of Islam, Dr. Sean W. Anthony
- The Middle East Crisis Factory, Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance, Iyad El-Baghdadi, Ahmed Gatnash
- The Modern Middle East, A History, James L. Gelvin
- The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East (Short History), Roger Hardy
- Mapping the Middle East, Zayde Antrim
- The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael Provence
- The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923, Sean McMeekin
- The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History (Oxford Handbooks), Jens Hanssen (Editor), Amal N. Ghazal (Editor)
- The Crucible of Islam, G. W. Bowersock
- Understanding and Teaching the Modern Middle East (The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History), Omnia El Shakry (Editor)
- A History of the Modern Middle East 6th Edition, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton
- Orientalism, Edward W. Said
- A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
- The Venture of Islam, Marshall G. S. Hodgson
- Being Arab, Samir Kassir
- A History of Islamic Societies, Ira M. Lapidus
- State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, Roger Owen
- Over-Stating the Arab State, Nazih N. Ayubi
- The International Politics of the Middle East, Raymond A. Hinnebusch
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, David Fromkin
- The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Ibn Khaldun
- Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism, Zachary Lockman
- Water on Sand: Environmental Histories Of The Middle East And North Africa, Alan Mikhail
- A Political Economy of the Middle East, Melani Cammett, Ishac Diwan, Alan Richards
- Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Montgomery Watt
- The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Jonathan P. Berkey
- How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs, Elizabeth F. Thompson
- Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, George Saliba
- Beyond Islam, Sami Zubaida
- The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, Donald Quataert
- Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, Adeed Dawisha
- Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class, Keith David Watenpaugh
- The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World, Cyrus Schayegh
- The Arab State and Neo-Liberal Globalization: The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East, Laura Guazzone, Daniela Pioppi
- The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History, Jeremy Bowen
Saudi Arabia
- Reading List
- Behind the Kingdom’s Veil Inside the New Saudi Arabia Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Susanne Koelbl
- A History of Saudi Arabia, Madawi al-Rasheed
- Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia, Toby Craig Jones
- Saudi Arabia: A Kingdom in Peril, Paul Aarts & Carolien Roelants
- Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Scott Anderson
- Jeddah Old and New Hardcover, James Buchan
- Travel guide: Saudi Arabia Paperback, Pablo Narval
- Blog Articles
Oman
- Reading list
- Lonely Planet, Oman, Lauren Keith, Jade Bremner, Tharik Hussain, Jessica Lee, Josephine Quintero, Jenny Walker
- Bradt guide, Oman, Diana Darke, Tony Walsh
- Monsoon Revolution Republicans, Sultans, and Empires in Oman, 1965-1976, Abdel Razzaq Takriti
- A Concise History of the Middle East, Arthur Goldschmidt Jr
- The Fall of the Ottomans, The Great War in the Middle East, Eugene Rogan
- Making the Arab World! Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, Fawaz A. Gerges
- Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, The Making of the Prophet of Islam, Dr. Sean W. Anthony
- The Middle East Crisis Factory, Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance, Iyad El-Baghdadi, Ahmed Gatnash
- The Modern Middle East, A History, James L. Gelvin
- The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East (Short History), Roger Hardy
- Mapping the Middle East, Zayde Antrim
- The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael Provence
- The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923, Sean McMeekin
- The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History (Oxford Handbooks), Jens Hanssen (Editor), Amal N. Ghazal (Editor)
- The Crucible of Islam, G. W. Bowersock
- Understanding and Teaching the Modern Middle East (The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History), Omnia El Shakry (Editor)
- A History of the Modern Middle East 6th Edition, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton
- Orientalism, Edward W. Said
- A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
- The Venture of Islam, Marshall G. S. Hodgson
- Being Arab, Samir Kassir
- A History of Islamic Societies, Ira M. Lapidus
- State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, Roger Owen
- Over-Stating the Arab State, Nazih N. Ayubi
- The International Politics of the Middle East, Raymond A. Hinnebusch
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, David Fromkin
- The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Ibn Khaldun
- Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism, Zachary Lockman
- Water on Sand: Environmental Histories Of The Middle East And North Africa, Alan Mikhail
- A Political Economy of the Middle East, Melani Cammett, Ishac Diwan, Alan Richards
- Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Montgomery Watt
- The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Jonathan P. Berkey
- How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs, Elizabeth F. Thompson
- Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, George Saliba
- Beyond Islam, Sami Zubaida
- The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, Donald Quataert
- Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, Adeed Dawisha
- Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class, Keith David Watenpaugh
- The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World, Cyrus Schayegh
- The Arab State and Neo-Liberal Globalization: The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East, Laura Guazzone, Daniela Pioppi
- The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History, Jeremy Bowen
- Blog articles
UAE
- Reading List
- The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, Rosemary Said Zahlan
- All in the Family, Michael Herb
- Travel Guide to the United Arab Emirates, Rough Guides
- United Arab Emirates travel, Lonely Planet | Middle East
- A Concise History of the Middle East, Arthur Goldschmidt Jr
- The Fall of the Ottomans, The Great War in the Middle East, Eugene Rogan
- Making the Arab World! Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, Fawaz A. Gerges
- Muhammad and the Empires of Faith, The Making of the Prophet of Islam, Dr. Sean W. Anthony
- The Middle East Crisis Factory, Tyranny, Resilience and Resistance, Iyad El-Baghdadi, Ahmed Gatnash
- The Modern Middle East, A History, James L. Gelvin
- The Poisoned Well: Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East (Short History), Roger Hardy
- Mapping the Middle East, Zayde Antrim
- The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael Provence
- The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923, Sean McMeekin
- The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle-Eastern and North African History (Oxford Handbooks), Jens Hanssen (Editor), Amal N. Ghazal (Editor)
- The Crucible of Islam, G. W. Bowersock
- Understanding and Teaching the Modern Middle East (The Harvey Goldberg Series for Understanding and Teaching History), Omnia El Shakry (Editor)
- A History of the Modern Middle East 6th Edition, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton
- Orientalism, Edward W. Said
- A History of the Arab Peoples, Albert Hourani
- The Venture of Islam, Marshall G. S. Hodgson
- Being Arab, Samir Kassir
- A History of Islamic Societies, Ira M. Lapidus
- State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, Roger Owen
- Over-Stating the Arab State, Nazih N. Ayubi
- The International Politics of the Middle East, Raymond A. Hinnebusch
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, David Fromkin
- The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Ibn Khaldun
- Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism, Zachary Lockman
- Water on Sand: Environmental Histories Of The Middle East And North Africa, Alan Mikhail
- A Political Economy of the Middle East, Melani Cammett, Ishac Diwan, Alan Richards
- Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Montgomery Watt
- The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Jonathan P. Berkey
- How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs, Elizabeth F. Thompson
- Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, George Saliba
- Beyond Islam, Sami Zubaida
- The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, Donald Quataert
- Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, Adeed Dawisha
- Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class, Keith David Watenpaugh
- The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World, Cyrus Schayegh
- The Arab State and Neo-Liberal Globalization: The Restructuring of State Power in the Middle East, Laura Guazzone, Daniela Pioppi
- Blog Articles
Mongolia, China, Tibet, and South Korea
Mongolia
- Reading list
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford
- On the Trail of Genghis Khan, Tim Cope
- Modern Mongolia, Reclaiming Genghis Khan, Paula Sabloff (Editor)
- Lonely Planet Mongolian Phrasebook, J. Bat-Ireediu
- Odyssey Guide Mongolia, Carl Robinson
- Mongolia Map, Gizi Map
- Culture Smart! Mongolia, Alan Sanders
- Moving With The Seasons, Liza Carter
- Genghis Khan and the Quest for God, Jack Weatherford
- Hunting With Eagles, Palani Mohan
- The Mongols, A Very Short Introduction, Morris Rossabi
- Genghis Khan, His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy, Frank McLynn
- Wild East, The New Mongolia, Jill Lawless
- Mongolian Folktales, Hilary Roe Metternich
- The Blue Sky, Galsan Tschinag
- The White Mountain, Galsan Tschinag
- Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs, Michael Novacek
- Birds of Mongolia, Gombobaatar Sundev, Christopher W. Leahy
- Blog articles
China
- China reading list
- Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang
- Mao Zedong, Jonathan Spence
- China Road, Rob Gifford
- Eyewitness Guide China, Eyewitness Guides
- China Adventure Map, National Geographic
- Culture Smart! China, Kathy Flower
- Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook, Hua-Yuan L. Mowry, Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson
- Age of Ambition, Evan Osnos
- The Forbidden City, Geremie R. Barme, Mary Beard (Editor)
- The Forbidden City, Center of Imperial China, Gilles Beguin, Dominique Morel
- Understanding China, John Bryan Starr
- The River at the Center of the World, Simon Winchester
- Search for Ancient China, Corinne Debaine-Francfort
- The Arts of China, Michael Sullivan
- In Manchuria, Michael Meyer
- A Single Pebble, John Hersey
- China, A Traveler’s Literary Companion, Kirk Denton (Editor)
- Cave Temples of Dunhuang, Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road, Neville Agnew
- Age of Ambition, Evan Osnos
- China Road, Rob Gifford
- Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang
- Understanding China, John Bryan Starr
- Eyewitness Guide China, Eyewitness Guides
- China Adventure Map, National Geographic
- Culture Smart! China, Kathy Flower
- Eyewitness Guide Beijing and Shanghai, Eyewitness Guides
- Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook, Hua-Yuan L. Mowry, Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson
- China in Ten Words, Hua Yu, Allen Barr (Translator)
- Shanghai, The Rise and Fall of the Decadent City 1842-1949, Stella Dong
- The Forbidden City, Geremie R. Barme, Mary Beard (Editor)
- The People’s Republic of Amnesia, The Legacy of Tiananmen Square, Louisa Lim
- The Terra Cotta Army, China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation, John Man
- Wealth and Power, China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century, Orville Schell, John Delury
- Postcards from Tomorrow Square, James Fallows
- Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler
- Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature, Yunte Huang
- Chinese Wildlife, Martin Walters
- Understanding China, John Bryan Starr
- Life Along the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield
- The Terra Cotta Army, China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation, John Man
- Odyssey Guide The Silk Road, Xi’an to Kashgar, Judy Bonavia
- Northwest China Map, MapLink
- China North Map, Nelles
- The Ancient Silk Road Map, Odyssey Maps
- Insight Guide Silk Road, Insight Guides
- Empires of the Silk Road, Christopher I. Beckwith
- The Great Game, Peter Hopkirk
- The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia, Frances Wood
- The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China, William Lindesay
- The Mummies of Urumchi, Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- China Road, Rob Gifford
- The Emperor Far Away, David Eimer
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford
- Riding the Iron Rooster, Paul Theroux
- Shadow of the Silk Road, Colin Thubron
- In Xanadu, A Quest, William Dalrymple
- Eastern China reading list
- Age of Ambition, Evan Osnos
- China Road, Rob Gifford
- Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang
- Understanding China, John Bryan Starr
- Eyewitness Guide China, Eyewitness Guides
- China Adventure Map, National Geographic
- Culture Smart! China, Kathy Flower
- Eyewitness Guide Beijing and Shanghai, Eyewitness Guides
- Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook, Hua-Yuan L. Mowry, Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson
- China in Ten Words, Hua Yu, Allen Barr (Translator)
- Shanghai, The Rise and Fall of the Decadent City 1842-1949, Stella Dong
- The Forbidden City, Geremie R. Barme, Mary Beard (Editor)
- The People’s Republic of Amnesia, The Legacy of Tiananmen Square, Louisa Lim
- The Terra Cotta Army, China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation, John Man
- Wealth and Power, China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century, Orville Schell, John Delury
- Postcards from Tomorrow Square, James Fallows
- Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler
- Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature, Yunte Huang
- Chinese Wildlife, Martin Walters
- Western China reading list
- Understanding China, John Bryan Starr
- Life Along the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield
- The Terra Cotta Army, China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation, John Man
- Odyssey Guide The Silk Road, Xi’an to Kashgar, Judy Bonavia
- Northwest China Map, MapLink
- China North Map, Nelles
- The Ancient Silk Road Map, Odyssey Maps
- Insight Guide Silk Road, Insight Guides
- Empires of the Silk Road, Christopher I. Beckwith
- The Great Game, Peter Hopkirk
- The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia, Frances Wood
- The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China, William Lindesay
- The Mummies of Urumchi, Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- China Road, Rob Gifford
- The Emperor Far Away, David Eimer
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Jack Weatherford
- Riding the Iron Rooster, Paul Theroux
- Shadow of the Silk Road, Colin Thubron
- In Xanadu, A Quest, William Dalrymple
Tibet
- Reading List
- Essential Tibetan Buddhism, Robert Thurman
- Tibet Map, Gizi Map
- Lonely Planet Tibetan Phrasebook, Sandup Tsering
- Tibet, An Unfinished Story, Lezlee Brown Halper
- To a Mountain in Tibet, Colin Thubron
- My Journey to Lhasa, Alexandra David-Neel
- Lonely Planet Tibet, Lonely Planet
- The Dragon in the Land of Snows, Tsering Shakya
- The Open Road, Pico Iyer
- The Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen
- Freedom in Exile, The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama
- Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer
- In Exile from the Land of Snows, John Avedon
- In the Land of the Blue Poppies, Frank Kingdon-Ward, Tom Christopher, Jamaica Kincaid
- The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Patrick Gaffney, Andrew Harvey, Sogyal Rinpoche
- Tibetan Folk Tales, Fredrick Hyde-Chambers, Audrey Hyde-Chambers
- Peaks on the Horizon, Two Journeys in, Tibet, Charlie Carroll
- Trespassers on the Roof of the World, Peter Hopkirk
- Blog Articles
South Korea
- Reading list
- The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History,Don Oberdorfer
- The Dawn of Modern Korea, Andrei Lankov
- CultureShock! Korea: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, Sonia Vegdahl
- The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Country is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture, Euny Hong
- The Korean War, Max Hastings
- Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History, Bruce Cumings
- The Vegetarian, Han Kang
- Korean History in Maps, Michael D. Shin
- Korea: A New History of South and North, Victor Cha, Ramon Pacheco Pardo
- History of Korea: A Captivating Guide to Korean History, Including Events Such as the Mongol Invasions, the Split into North and South, and the Korean War (Asian Countries), Captivating History
- Korea: A History, Eugene Y. Park
- Guide to Korean Culture, Korean Culture and Information Service
- Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles, Simon Winchester
- Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop, Ramon Pacheco Pardo
- Three Tigers, One Mountain, Michael Booth
- Korea: The Impossible Country, Daniel Tudor
South Caucasus & Turkiye
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia
- Reading List
- Tasting Georgia, Carla Capalbo
- Kaukasis, A Culinary Journey, Olia Hercules
- For the Love of Wine, Alice Feiring
- The Georgian Feast, Darra Goldstein
- The Caucasus, An Introduction, Thomas De Waal
- Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, John Noble
- Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Culture Smart! Azerbaijan, Nikki Kazimova
- Black Sea, Neal Ascherson
- The Orientalist, Tom Reiss
- The Ghost of Freedom, Charles King
- Kurban Said, Ali and Nino, A Love Story, Paul Theroux
- An Armenian Sketchbook, Vasily Grossman
- Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
- Russia’s Steppe Frontier, The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800, Michael Khodarkovsky
- Hadji Murad, Leo Tolstoy, Aylmer Maude
- Highlanders, Yo’av Karny
- Passage to Ararat, Michael J. Arlen, Clark Blaise
- Stories I Stole, A Journey to Georgia, Wendell Steavenson
- Blog Articles
Turkiye
- Reading List
- Istanbul, Memories and the City, Orhan Pamuk
- DK Eyewitness Top Ten Istanbul, Eyewitness Guides
- A Traveller’s History of Turkey, Richard Stoneman
- Classical Turkish Cooking, Ayla Esen Algar
- Istanbul and Beyond, Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey, Robyn Eckhardt
- Eyewitness Guide Turkey, Eyewitness Guides
- 1453, The Holy War For Constantinople, Roger Crowley
- Turkey Map, Freytag & Berndt
- A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich
- Ancient Turkey, A Traveller’s History, Seton Lloyd
- Turkish Reflections, A Biography of a Place, Mary Lee Settle
- Crescent and Star, Stephen Kinzer
- Birds Without Wings, Louis De Bernieres
- Lords of the Horizons, Jason Goodwin
- The Janissary Tree, Jason Goodwin
- Turkey, What Everyone Needs to Know, Andrew Finkel
- The Towers of Trebizond, Rose MacAulay, Jan Morris (Introduction)
- The Lycian Shore, Freya Stark
- Anatolian Days & Nights, Angie Brenner, Joy Stocke
- Blog Articles
Russia
Western Russia
- Reading List
- Russian Short Stories, Robert Chandler
- The Cold War, Michael Hopkins
- Culture Smart! Russia, Anna King
- Insight Guide Russia, Insight Guides
- Russia Map, International Travel Maps
- Lonely Planet Russian Phrasebook, James Jenkin, Inna Zaitseva
- Gulag, A History, Anne Applebaum
- The Routledge Atlas of Russian History, Martin Gilbert
- Lenin’s Tomb, David Remnick
- Natasha’s Dance, A Cultural History of Russia, Orlando Figes
- Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov
- Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia, W. Bruce Lincoln
- Stalin, The Court of the Red Tsar, Simon Sebag Montefiore
- Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier
- Russka, Edward Rutherfurd
- Catherine the Great, Robert K. Massie
- The Winter Queen, Boris Akunin, Andrew Bromfield
- Among the Russians, Colin Thubron
- Peter the Great, His Life and World, Robert Massie
- Blog Articles
North Caucasus
- Reading List
- The Ghost of Freedom, Charles King
- Let Our Fame Be Great, Oliver Bullough
- A Small Corner of Hell, Anna Politkovskaya
- A Hero of Our Time, Mikhail Lermontov
- Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer In The Caucasus, A World-System Biography, Georgi M. Derluguian
- Highlanders, A Journey to the Caucasus in Quest of Memory, Yo’av Karny
- Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Map, Freytag & Berndt
- Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, John Noble
- Russia’s Steppe Frontier, The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800, Michael Khodarkovsky
- The Caucasus, An Introduction, Thomas De Waal
- Allah’s Mountains, The Battle for Chechnya, Sebastian Smith
- Chechnya Diary, Thomas Goltz
- The New Tsar, The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin, Steven Lee Myers
- Ali and Nino, A Love Story, Kurban Said, Paul Theroux (Afterword)
- Stories I Stole, A Journey to Georgia, Wendell Steavenson
- Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon
- Hadji Murad, Leo Tolstoy, Aylmer Maude (Translator)
- Blog Articles
Siberia & the Russian Far East
- Reading List
- Midnight in Siberia, A Journey into the Heart of Russia, David Greene
- Dersu the Trapper, V.K. Arseniev, Malcolm Burr
- Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian Railway, Simon Richmond
- Russia Map, International Travel Maps
- Eyewitness Guide Moscow, Eyewitness Guides
- Trans-Siberian Handbook, Bryn Thomas
- Gulag, A History, Anne Applebaum
- Lenin Lives! The Lenin Cult in Soviet Russia, Nina Tumarkin
- The Museum at the End of the World, Encounters in the Russian Far East, Alexia Bloch, Laurel Kendall
- Where the Sea Breaks Its Back, Corey Ford
- In Siberia, Colin Thubron
- The Consolations of the Forest, Sylvain Tesson
- The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz
- The Other Side of Russia, Sharon Hudgins
- Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier
- Snow in May, Stories, Kseniya Melnik
- The People’s Act of Love, James Meek
- The Sun Maiden and the Crescent Moon, Siberian Folk Tales, James Riordan
- Blog Articles
Rail Journeys
Trans-Siberian Railway
- Reding List
- In Siberia, Colin Thubron
- Dersu the Trapper, V.K. Arseniev, Malcolm Burr
- Trans-Siberian Handbook, Bryn Thomas
- Russia Map, International Travel Maps
- Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian Railway, Simon Richmond
- Gulag, A History, Anne Applebaum
- Russia of the Tsars, Peter Waldron
- Siberia, A Cultural History, Anthony Haywood
- The Conquest of a Continent, W. Bruce Lincoln
- To the Edge of the World, The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express, Christian Wolmar
- Train, Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World, Tom Zoellner
- Tent Life in Siberia, George Kennan, Larry McMurtry
- Midnight in Siberia, A Journey into the Heart of Russia, David Greene
- The Other Side of Russia, Sharon Hudgins
- The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux
- Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Birds of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan: Passerines, Norman Arlott
- Blog Articles