From the contents: Some reflections on Zoroastrianism in Sogdiana and Bactria (Nicholas Sims-Williams). - Hunting traps on the Istiurt Plateau, Uzbekistan (A.V.G. Betts, V.N. Yagodin). - Byzantium, Persia and China: interstate relations on the eve of the Islamic conquest (Samuel Lieu). - The Northern Silk Road: ties between Turfan and Korea (Michael Underdown). - Politics of national reconciliation in Tajikistan: from peace talks to (partial) political settlement (Kirill Nourzhanov). - Islam and regional stability in Central Asia (Shahram Akbarzadeh). - National and imperial identity: a triptych of Baltic Germans in Inner Asia (Felix Patrikeeff, John Perkins).