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Secessionist Rule: Protracted Conflict and the Configurations of Non-state Authority. By Franziska Smolnik. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2016. 425 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Tables. Maps. $48.00, paper.

Mostowlansky writes sagaciously when explaining recondite theory and lucidly when describing notions wedded to identity, values, and ideologies. He describes his settings and encounters vividly. Chapters and sections concerning Islam, a presidential visit, discussions of civilization and backwardness, and interpretations of the kind of state and government Tajikistan needs will resonate with readers. The book should fit nicely in anthropology courses on modernity and globalization, in advanced graduate courses in the social sciences of post-Soviet space, and it is not beyond the grasp of undergraduates learning about Central Asia as long as they are provided guidance. Lastly, a word about the title: As a reflection of the region’s altitude and isolation, people occasionally talk about being on the moon, especially given the appearance of some landscapes. However, the azan is the Muslim call to prayer and refers to a story in a popular pamphlet on Islam and science that concerns what Neil Armstrong supposedly heard on the moon and related to an Egyptian audience. Thus, the title deals with concurrent senses of remoteness and universality, appropriate for so many of the topics Mostowlansky examines.