Silk Mirage : Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan

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 t