Prompted by the need for accessible teaching materials on Central Asian literature and history, this anthology surveys the literature of modern Central Asia from the late 19th century to the present.

Genres range from oral literature and folk tales to essays, prose, drama, and poetry. The anthology is divided into five sections: oral literature; pre-Revolutionary written literature; Soviet literature through the Stalin era; Soviet literature of the post-Stalin era; and literature of contemporary Central Asia. Each section is preceded by a short critical introduction and includes representative examples from multiple languages and regions. The geographic focus of the anthology is on literature from the territories of the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), together with the adjacent regions of Xinjiang, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus.