History of civilizations of Central Asia Volume IV [electronic resource] : The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century / Edited by C. E. Bosworth and the late M. S. Asimov.

Vol. 1. The dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700 B.C v. 2. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250 v. 3. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750 v. 4. The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century.

Central Asia has long been regarded as a major missing piece in the study of world history. Sitting on the borderlands of the world's major civilizations, it was long ignored or treated as an afterthought. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and China's greater openness to the outside world, this has begun to change. New nations have begun looking for useful historical roots, although such interests have often taken a decidedly nationalistic turn. New research, often the result of collaboration between local scholars and their Western counterparts, have greatly increased our understanding of the region while at the same time making us aware of how much more needs to be known.