Shared Spaces

<p>This book explores a little-known but richly layered history of Jewish communities in one of the world's most diverse and dynamic regions. Spanning over a millennium the Jewish presence in Central Asia and the Caucasus has often been overshadowed by broader imperial colonial and Soviet narratives. This groundbreaking collection sheds new light on how Jews—Bukharan Mountain Georgian and Ashkenazi—lived worked and interacted with their Muslim and Christian neighbours across shifting political regimes.</p><p>Drawing from fresh archival research oral histories and interdisciplinary approaches nine scholars examine the complex cultural linguistic economic and political entanglements that defined Jewish life in the region during the long 19th and 20th centuries. Topics range from demographic reviews religious prejudice trade networks and wartime evacuations to literary crosscurrents and everyday coexistence under Russian and Soviet rule. At its heart the volume reveals how Jews were not peripheral actors but key contributors to the development of modern Central Asian and Caucasian societies.</p><p>Accessible and insightful <i>Shared Spaces: Jews and Interethnic Encounters in Central Asia and the Caucasus 19th–20th Centuries</i> is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of minorities interethnic relations and the making of modern Eurasia. It invites a broader understanding of how diverse communities shaped the region’s shared past.</p><p>The chapters in this book were published in <i>Central Asian Survey. </i></p>