This guide is intended for students and researchers studying aspects of the Caucasus and Central Asia at the University of Oxford, although students and researchers from any field may find it useful.
Use this guide to find out about books and online resources for the study of the Caucasus and Central Asia, including ebooks, ejournals and bibliographic databases.
Defining the Caucasus and Central Asia
For the purposes of this guide, the Caucasus is defined as comprising the current nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia; whereas Central Asia is defined as comprising the modern states of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
For some topics, or for the period before widespread Russian and Manchu imperialism (circa 1700) our Caucasian and Central Asian collections may also cover regions which are now part of the larger post-imperial states, but which nevertheless have historical and cultural ties to independant states listed above. For the Caucasus, this can include adjacent parts of the Russian Federation, such as Circassia, Dagestan, or Ossetia. For Central Asia, this can include the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the Peoples' Republic of China, and Turkic-speaking regions currently a part of the Russian Federation, such as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and Crimea.
The main resource for regions within the Russian Federation in Oxford is the Slavonic and East European Area Studies collection, whereas the Chinese Studies collection will also include information on the Uyghur region, especially in a national context.
The Caucasus and Central Asia collections also include material on regions of Turkey previously home to Georgian and Armenian kingdoms, especially prior to their incorporation into the Ottoman Empire. For other resources on Caucasian populations in an Ottoman context, consult our Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies collections.
Oxford has a wide range of ebooks and printed books on the Caucasus and Central Asia. For more detailed info about our book collections visit our books page of this guide.
A lot of journals, as well as being available in print, are available online and can be searched via SOLO or eJournals A-Z. Below are a few of the top journals on the Caucasus and Central Asia, but you can find a longer list on the journals page of this guide.
