Summary: The author, who has travelled extensively in Central Asia, describes the government, culture, and condition of each of the five former Soviet republics in the area: Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, interspersing graphic accounts, in comic-book form, of his visits to the region. He also describes the international contention for access to the region's oil and natural gas, the ecological damage created by previous efforts to develop the region economically, and the short-sighted policies of the American government towards the Central Asian states, ending with detailed, cautionary advice to Americans who want to visit the places he describes.