There have been a number of trailblazing and fascinating books written by Western authors about the Great Steppe and Kazakhstan in particular. What follows below is not an exhaustive list but it shows how many books have been written about the region and its people by the earliest travellers. Many of the books listed are available in various formats, including hardcover, paperback and e-book.
|
Year |
Author |
Title |
Source URL |
Places Visited |
|
1255 |
Rubruck, William of |
The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-55 |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1300 |
Polo, Marco and Rustichello da Pisa |
Book of the Marvels of the World |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1327 |
Odoric of Pordenone |
The Travels of Friar Odoric of Pordenone (1316-1330) |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1560 |
Jenkinson, Anthony |
Anthony Jenkinson's Explorations on the Land Route to China, 1558-1569 |
Mangystau |
|
|
1684 |
Struys, Jan Janszoon |
The Voiages and Travels of John Struys through Italy, Greece, Muscovy, Tartary, Media, Persia, East-India, Japan, and other Countries in Europe, Africa and Asia |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1736 |
Castle, John |
Into the Kazakh Steppe: John Castle’s Mission to Khan Abulkhayir |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1823 |
Nazarov, Filipp |
Russian missions into the interior of Asia |
Orenberg to Aral through Aktobe |
|
|
1840 |
Murchison |
Murchison's wanderings in Russia |
Great Steppe |
|
|
1858 |
Atkinson, Thomas Witlam |
Oriental and western Siberia : a narrative of seven years' exploration and adventures in Siberia, Mongolia, the Kirghis Steppes, Chinese Tartary, and a part of central Asia |
Zyryanovsk, Murzinka, Kishi Narym, Úlken Narym, (Werchnayan Pristan), Oskemen, Bukhtarma, (Bouloshnia), (Tulovskoj Simovee), Koch-bouchta |
|
|
1860 |
Atkinson, Thomas Witlam |
Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor |
Semipalatinsk, Lepsinsk, Kopal |
|
|
1865 |
Zaleski, Bronislas |
La Vie des steppes kirghizes |
Mangystau |
|
|
1863 |
Atkinson, Lucy |
Recollections of Tartar steppes and their inhabitants |
Semipalatinsk, Lepsinsk, Kopal |
|
|
1874 |
J.A. MacGahan |
Campaigning on the Oxus, and the fall of Khiva |
Orenburg, Kazalinsk, Kyzylorda |
|
|
1875 |
Forsyth, Thomas Douglas |
Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873, Under Command of Sir T. D. Forsyth |
None (but mentions Almati) |
|
|
1876 |
Wood, Herbert |
The Shores of Lake Aral |
Kazalinsk |
|
|
1876 |
Schuyler, Eugene |
Turkistan: Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Khokand, Bukhara, and Kuldja |
Taraz (Aulie-Ata), Almaty (Vierny), Kopal, Balkash, Altyn-Emel, Koktal (Borokhudzir) |
|
|
1876 |
Frederick Gustavus Burnaby |
A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia |
Uralsk, Karabutak, Yrgyz, Terekli, Soppak, Kazalinsk (Kasala) |
|
|
1884 |
Abbott, James |
Narrative of a journey from Heraut to Khiva, Moscow, and St. Petersburgh, during the late Russian invasion of Khiva |
Atyrau, Uralsk |
|
|
1886 |
Bateson, William |
Letters from the Steppe written in the years 1886-87 |
Aral Sea |
|
|
1887 |
Lansdell, Henry |
Russian Central Asia: Including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva and Merv |
Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, Sergiopol, Almaty, Altyn-Emel, Kopal |
|
|
1892 |
Jones, Herbert |
From Tian Shan to the Pamirs: Experiences on the Russo-Chinese Frontier. |
None (but mentions Verni) |
|
|
1893 |
Lansdell, Henry |
Chinese Central Asia; a ride to Little Tibet |
Otar, Uzun Agach, Almaty, Ilisk, Zharkent |
|
|
1896 |
Brehm, Alfred Edmund |
From North Pole to equator: studies of wild life and scenes in many lands |
Semipalatinsk, Sergiopol, Arkat mountains |
|
|
1897 |
Mersey, Clive Bigham |
A ride through western Asia |
Verniy, Iliskoe, Kopal, Sergiopol, Semipalatinsk |
|
|
1898 |
Hedin, Sven Anders |
Through Asia |
Buguti-sai, Tamdi, Kara-butak, Kum-sai, Kara-sai, Irghiz, Ak-sai, Terekli, Juluz, Konstantinovskaya, Kamishli-bash, Ak-julpaz, Yunyskaya, Kazalinsk, Karmakchi, Alexandrovskaya, Semionnovskaya, Fort Perovsk, Julsk, Mesheh-uli, Yani-kurgan, Tash-suat,Turkestan, Ikan, Nagai-kura, Aris, Buru-jar |
|
|
1899 |
Jefferson, Robert |
A New Ride to Khiva |
Kazalinsk |
|
|
1900 |
Cobbold, Ralph Patterson |
Innermost Asia : travel & sport in the Pamirs |
Karabulak, Osunagach, Vierny, Chilik, Ilinsk, Balkash, Samsay, Otar |
|
|
1905 |
Ronaldshay, Dundas, Lawrence John Lumley, Earl of |
On the outskirts of empire in Asia |
Shymkent, Verni, Altin-Imel, Kopa, Sergiopol, Semipalatinsk |
|
|
1905 |
Pumpelly, Raphael |
Explorations in Turkestan with an account of the basin of Eastern Persia and Sistan |
Vyernyi, Iliisk, Sergiopol, Semipalatinsk |
|
|
1910 |
Wood, John Nicholas Price |
Travel & Sport in Turkestan. |
Khargos, Jarkend,Khoi Bin, Vyerni |
|
|
1915 |
Bury, Herbert |
Russian life to-day |
Petropavlovsk, Spassky Copper Mine |
|
|
1916 |
Wardell, John Wilford |
In the Kirghiz Steppes |
Balkash |
|
|
1916 |
Graham, Stephen |
Through Russian central Asia |
Vyerni, Ilisk, Zharkent |
|
|
1916 |
Fell, Edward Nelson |
Russian and Nomad |
Balkash |
|
|
1934 |
Gibson, William James |
Wild career: my crowded years of adventure in Russia and the Near East |
Almaty |
|
|
1920 |
Sykes |
Through deserts and oases of central Asia |
Orenburg-Tashkent train |
|
|
1925 |
Fox, Ralph |
People of the Steppe |
Aral Sea |
|
|
1928 |
Noble, Algernon |
Siberian days: an engineer’s record of travel and adventure in the wilds of Siberia |
“Kirghiz steppe” |
|
|
1929 |
Roerich, Nicholas |
Altai-Himalaya: A Travel Diary |
Zaisan, Semipalatinsk |
|
|
1934 |
Maillart, Ella |
Turkestan Solo |
Aral Sea |
|
|
1936 |
Edward Murray |
With the Nomads of Central Asia |
||
|
1937 |
Krist, Gustav |
Alone Through the Forbidden Land: Journeys in Disguise through Soviet Central Asia |
Fort Shevchenko |
|
|
1954 |
Godfrey Lias |
Kazak Exodus |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2009 |
Jonathan Aitken |
Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2012 |
Jonathan Aitken |
Kazakhstan and Twenty Years of Independence |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2014 |
Jeremy Tredinnick |
An Illustrated History of Kazakhstan: Asia’s Heartland in Context (Odyssey Travel Guides) |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2018 |
Paul Brummell, Maria Oleynik |
Kazakhstan (Bradt Travel Guides) |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2018 |
Dagmar Schreiber, Jeremy Tredinnick |
Kazakhstan: Nomadic Routes from Caspian to Altai - Odyssey Illustrated Guides |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2020 |
Jeremy Tredinnick, Dagmar Schreiber |
Kazakhstan: Land of the High Steppe |
Kazakhstan |
|
|
2020 |
Nick Fielding |
Travellers in the Great Steppe: From the Papal Envoys to the Russian Revolution |
Great Steppe |
|
|
2020 |
Chokan Valikhanov |
Selected Works of Chokan Valikhanov: Pioneering Ethnographer and Historian of the Great Steppe |
Central Asia, China |