Skip to main content

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year!


Happy New Year to Dark Shadows Readers!
We would like to wish all readers of Dark Shadows a very happy 2020! Dark Shadows, published by Bloomsbury-owned I.B. Tauris, has had a great year. It began with author Joanna Lillis’s successful North American book tour in early 2019, following the launch of Dark Shadows in the UK in late 2018, and continued with some great reviews of Dark Shadows in the international press. Check out the Spectator review by Peter Frankopan, historian and best-selling author of The Silk Roads and The New Silk Roads, who describes Dark Shadows as “astute, refreshing and revelatory”, the rave review in the Times Literary Supplement (subscribers only), and the write-up in Literary Review, which found that author Joanna Lillis “refreshes our knowledge of important events in Kazakhstan’s history” and “provides a vivid, interview-led report of Kazakhstan’s stunted human rights record”.
The first edition has sold out and we are now into our second print run. You can find Dark Shadows in all good bookshops in the UK, US and other countries, or order online from Bloomsbury or Amazon’s UK and US websites, including in Kindle format (or e-book pdf format on the publisher’s site). Watch this space for news about plans for a paperback!

After a turbulent year in Kazakhstan following the resignation of its long-serving leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, now is a great time to read this compelling portrait of the country, with its deep dive into contemporary politics, history, culture and identity told through the voices of ordinary people.

As 2019 ends and 2020 approaches, we thank all readers past, present and future for their interest, and wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dark Shadows US Tour Recap

Joanna Lillis, the author of the best-selling  Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan , has completed her successful tour of the USA following the book's North American publication on 30 January.  Dark Shadows arrives in the Big Apple! Here we publish links to videos of two events, so you can watch on catch-up if you missed them on the day. Joanna Lillis in conversation with Alex Cooley at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, New York Here’s a  link   to video of a  Q and A   with Alex Cooley about  Dark Shadows  at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York, where you can hear how the book came about and learn more about the diverse, from-the-ground reportage that it contains, if you missed the event on the day.  Kazakhstan’s Quest for Identity at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University And here’s a   link   to the author’s   presentation...

Dark Shadows Around the World

It's been just over six months since Joanna Lillis's Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan was published in the UK by I. B. Tauris, and in that time it has turned up in some surprising corners of the world. Dark Shadows spotted at Niagara Falls, Canadian side So far, it has made the short trip across the channel to make an appearance in the venerable Shakespeare and Co in Paris , crossed Hadrian's Wall to Scotland , winged its way by post to  Mongolia , sailed across the expanse of the Atlantic to turn up in  Niagara Falls in Canada and the  Bronx , and even popped up in  Mexico  and the exotic Caribbean island of  Curaçao. Dark Shadows on  Curaçao island Who knows where this esteemed tome will end up next? Avid bookworms should keep on posting their pics of Dark Shadows on Twitter and tag in @joannalillis, or send them to us here at darkshadows@gmail.com. For any readers who have yet to get their hands on a copy...

Dark Shadows: In the Press 5: Here Come the Reviews...

Check out the latest reviews of  Dark Shadows  in the international media! The book has recently been reviewed by two renowned historians, Peter Frankopan and Alexander Morrison, both of Oxford University.  Dark Shadows meets The Silk Roads - Joanna Lillis meets Peter Frankopan in Oxford in November 2018 Writing in  The Spectator , Peter Frankopan described  Dark Shadows as “ astute, refreshing and revelatory”, and also “surprisingly tender, showing not only [Lillis’s] affection but her care in trying to make sense of a country that needs to be understood warts and all”.  “She introduces a cast of characters one could not make up, from an Old Believer living in the north of the country to a militant atheist, whose grim convictions are not entirely appealing,” he continues. “We meet those suffering from the effects of Soviet-era nuclear experiments and children infected with HIV in a blood scandal, whose dignity in the face of injustice and trag...