 | A Beginner's Guide to Tajiki by Azim Baizoyev
Buy new: $53.56 / Used from: $59.08 Great practical introduction to the local language, Tajiki Persian. It's not up to the level of modern French or Russian pedagogy, but it's the best thing out there for a Central Asian language that I've seen.
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 | An Introduction to Persian by W. M. Thackston
Buy new: $37.61 / Used from: $22.00 If you're learning Persian anyway, learn the Arabic script and use this book together with Baizoyev's.
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 | Tajikistan & The High Pamirs: A Companion and Guide (Odyssey Illustrated Guides) by Robert Middleton
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $14.99 I haven't seen this yet, but if it's nearly as good as the Odyssey Afghanistan, it'll be great. Expect fine coverage of the eastern half of the country, which is otherwise hard to find. The cover alone makes me fantasize about a return to Badakhshan.
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 | Land Beyond the River: The Untold Story of Central Asia by Monica Whitlock
Buy used from: $26.53 Not in print, but it looks like there are used copies out there. A very readable, indispensable guide to the Tajik civil war, intellectual history in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and the Tajik and Uzbek diasporae.
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 | The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations by Olivier Roy
Buy used from: $1.94 Kind of out of date post-9/11, very scholarly, but focuses on Tajikistan and gives a detailed breakdown of the descent into civil war.
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 | Setting the East Ablaze: Lenins Dream of an Empire in Asia by Peter Hopkirk
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $6.22 After this one, repeat with the rest of Peter Hopkirk's Central Asia books, all just as fun.
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 | The Sands of Oxus: Boyhood Reminiscences of Sadriddin Aini (Bibliotheca Iranica: Literature Series) by Sadriddin Aini
Buy used from: $13.82 The grandfather of modern Tajik literature, though he lived down the road in Bukhara. Gives a great picture of life in Central Asia before it got Sovietized.
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 | A Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry: A Guide to the Reading & Understanding of Persian Poetry from the Tenth to the Twentieth Century by Wheeler M. Thackston
Buy new: $30.91 / Used from: $22.95 Tajiks will call it Tajik poetry, Iranians--Farsi poetry, Afghanis--Dari poetry; just shut up and enjoy it.
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 | Central Asia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) by Bradley Mayhew
Buy new: $19.79 / Used from: $16.98 The lastest edition of Lonely Planet. A minimally good start, but you'll need to talk to locals to find the really interesting things in Tajikistan.
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 | Central Asia: Lonely Planet Phrasebook by Justin Jon Rudelson
Buy used from: $11.74 After the Persian and Tajik textbooks, you speak Tajik, right? Well, you might find you need some Russian, Uzbek, or even Kyrgyz during your travels in Tajikistan.
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