Kazakhstan in World War II: Mobilization and Ethnicity in the Soviet Empire. By Roberto J. Carmack,. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 2019. 263 pages. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Photographs. Figures. Maps. $145.00, hard bound.

Kazakhstan in World War II: Mobilization and Ethnicity in the Soviet Empire. By Roberto J. Carmack. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 2019. 263 pages. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Photographs. Figures. Maps. $145.00, hard bound.

Roberto J. Carmack's well-researched and well-written book focuses on Kazakhstan's integration into the Soviet Union during World War II. The book argues, however, that existing “ethnic and social inequalities” during the late imperial era became more prominent during the Soviet era (2). The main strength of the book appears early. Carmack suggests aptly that in contrast to the successful independence movements in the European colonies of Africa and Asia, WWII resulted in strengthening Soviet dominance in Central Asia. Although this is not a novel argument about the fate of the Central Asian nationalities, the conclusion about the role of WWII in solidifying Soviet identities is particularly convincing. The book skillfully weaves the relationship of the military and economic opportunities for Kazakh citizens with the ideological indoctrination, deportations, and other forced mass movements, initiated by the Soviet state.

This book offers readers, especially those who are students of WWII or the Soviet Union, a new opportunity to see this calamitous era from a new lens, other than military history. Carmack relies on Kazakhstan's all available party-state archives...