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Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia

fascinating trip through the late imperial period, but he does not fully articulate either his goals or findings at the end of the path. He raises many important arguments and insights about Imperial Russia and the Jewish experience there in the course of the book. This would have been the place to bring them together and demonstrate what identification politics adds to our understanding of the period. The use of primary sources in this work is highly effective. Avrutin took advantage of petitions from numerous archives and his examples show the real struggles faced by individuals and the state. The chronological sweep of the book, as well as its broad topic, required erudition in a huge array of topics. Avrutin’s footnotes are truly impressive as he demonstrates knowledge of the development of European legal and administrative systems, all aspects of Russian society and governance, and Jewish history and culture. Thorough coverage of so many topics would not be possible for any scholar, and of course there are some gaps. In the fifth chapter, for example, the brief overview of Jewish naming practices cannot do justice to a system developed over centuries. Avrutin’s examples are only for male naming customs and he does not adequately explain to those unfamiliar with Hebrew and Yiddish orthography why transliteration proved to be such a problem. He also refers to two former Jews brought in as experts to help the authorities make sense of the problems, without discussing the dramatically different reputations and achievements of Yakov Brafman and Daniel Khvol’son. Jews and the Imperial State is an important book with an original and thoughtful perspective. The expectation of background knowledge would make it awkward to use in an undergraduate classroom, but it would be ideal for a graduate seminar. I applaud Eugene Avrutin for finding a new angle to approach a familiar subject. His introduction of identification politics into the discussion of ethnicity in imperial Russia will surely spark ongoing scholarly discussions.