Silk Mirage is a compelling portrait of Uzbekistan a country at the heart of the ancient Silk
Road and now the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of
this strategic land in Central Asia. In 2016 the long-ruling dictator Islam Karimov - one of
the last Soviet-era strongmen - died sparking a period of transformation under his successor
Shavkat Mirziyoyev which became known as the 'Uzbek Spring'. But as investigative journalist
Joanna Lillis shows spring has struggled to break through in one of the world's most
repressive and totalitarian states. As one of the few western journalists with access to
Uzbekistan and with over two decades of experience covering the country Lillis travels deep
into the heart of the Karimov regime portraying all the excesses and atrocities that made it
such a brutal dictatorship. She also penetrates the system that replaced it exploring how life
has changed for Uzbeks under Mirziyoyev's rule - and how it has not. A tale of both reform and
repression this book illustrates the challenges of dragging a country out of dictatorship.
Lillis explores Uzbekistan's politics economics history arts and culture - and asks where
the country stands nearly a decade after the death of its dictator and 600 years since its
ancient capital Samarkand was the centre of the world's trade network. Lillis weaves in the
extraordinary stories of ordinary people: from politicians to former political prisoners from
journalists to human rights crusaders from entrepreneurs to environmentalists from artists to
architects from silk makers to carpet weavers. C onjuring up Uzbekistan as a place full of
life and loss Silk Mirage tells the stories of courageous people who probe to find the cracks
in an authoritarian regime through which the light gets in.
