The most useful & interesting books published in 2025: this is a list of the most useful books covering the Eurasia region published in 2025. Our definition of usefulness is from the perspective of strategic investors and businesses who want to better understand the region as a backdrop to their assessment of both opportunity and risk. Also included is the updated recommended list (Sections VI to XI) covering the Eurasia region, Russia, external factors, etc. These are books we believe give the best overview for those who wish to understand the fast-developing Eurasia region and individual Eurasia countries.

Trends. One very notable trend this year is the number of books written, or co-written, by AI programs. These typically are historical or geographic compilations where AI excels at collecting, sorting, and presenting data and information. The other, more unfortunate trend, is the number of books written by authors with a very clear political bias – on all sides. We usually exclude the most egregious of these, but some are included (for you to decide which).

Ukraine. There are few books analyzing the conflict in Ukraine from a political or geopolitical perspective. In 2022-2024, there were many which examined the “why it happened” question. The next wave will come after a peace deal and will focus on legacy issues. This year’s standout book is not political but is a very powerful account of a family surviving war: The Quiet That Remains: Survival, Silence and the Story of a Ukrainian Family (by Ben Skliar-Ward). 

Conflict updates. The best books explaining the conflict so far include Simon Shuster’s The Showman: The Inside Story of the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky (2024); Hubris: The Origins of Russia's War Against Ukraine (2024), by Jonathan Haslam, Michael Kimmage’s Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability (2024) and Owen Matthew’s Overreach (2022).

Standout books this year. There have been several books published in 2025 that can be described as standouts. Thane Gustafson’sPerfect Storm: Russia's Failed Economic Opening, the Hurricane of War and Sanctions, and the Uncertain Future is one of these. It provides a very detailed account of Russia’s economic, social, and political development from the end of the Soviet Union to the present day. It is also the only book (to date) that thoroughly looks at the impact of sanctions on the economy since 2014. Another is Neil Shearing’s The Fractured Age: How the Return of Geopolitics Will Splinter the Global Economy, which considers not just sanctions and Ukraine but tariffs and geopolitical trends and the likely impact on the global economy.  

The Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy by Geoff Raby is another to mention. It covers China’s steadily growing influence and control in Central Asia and what this means for the current global order. Continuing this theme is The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World by Hal Brands, which provides a comprehensive history of the region and its importance in terms of how the world order may be shaped from here. It also provides a very clear explanation about the growing contest between China and the U.S. as each pushes its respective vision of global order. 

Caucasus. Not surprisingly, the end of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the rapprochement with Türkiye have encouraged several authors to review both the region and the aftermath of the Karabakh war. One such is A History of the Caucasus(Levon Stepanyan), and another is Blood and Thrones in the Caucasus (Dr D Basak).

Kazakhstan. There has been an increase in interest in Central Asia’s biggest economy over the past three years, and several new books have been published this year. One of which is What Does It Mean to Be Kazakhstani? Power, Identity and Nation-Buildingby Dina Kudaibergen which examines how the country has developed since independence and how it is balancing various external influences with domestic pressures. Another is After January: Kazakhstan's Journey Through Identity and Geopolitics (Nygmet Ibadildin, Dinara Pisareva, Nurmakhan Tastaibek), which closely looks at the implications of the January 2022 coup attempt.

Iran. After last year’s flurry of books about Iran, the flow is much lighter this year. But there are a couple of new additions, including Iran’s Policies Toward Central Asia and the Caucasus: Investing in Opportunities and Ousting Competitors, by Dr. Ahmed Daifullah al-Garni, which, as the title suggests, examines Tehran’s ambition to be more of a regional player and to expand trade, investment, and political engagement with the countries to its north.

Other country updates. As mentioned, there is a plethora of historical combinations this year, including Armenian, Belarus, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Tajikistan etc.  Worth mentioning is a rare addition to the Turkmenistan library, Turkmenistan and Central Asia After Niyazov (Stephen J Blank). Another highly recommended book is The Mongol Era: Conquest, Power, and Decline(Rafael Munoz).

Russia-China/BRI. There are no new books in 2025 covering the topic of the Russia-China relationship, although there are several very comprehensive books from 2024 and 2023, which are listed in the Recommended Books section (from Page 76). Similarly with books focused on the expanding rail networks. There are, however, several which look at the Silk Road in history.

Russia books. Apart from several topic-focused books mentioned, there are few political or domestic analysis books this year. That is also not surprising, as many authors will sensibly hold fire until after a peace deal and can examine the consequences for socio-political and macro-economic trends. One worth mentioning is Jeremy Morris’s Everyday Politics in Russia: From Resentment to Resistance, which is based on several years of extensive fieldwork across Russia. Another is Russia and its Rulers: The Turbulent History of a Country Which Has Never Come to Terms with the Modern World (Caroline Brooke).

Other Russia books. Howard Amos’s Russia Starts Here: Real Lives in the Ruins of Empire is not a business or political book but is an excellent read for those would want to understand the Russian people, and their ordinary lives, beyond Moscow. Another is Mikhail Zygar’s The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-Lived Victory Over Totalitarianism. This is more of a historical book based on interviews of prominent politicians, authors, and academics (in Russia and external) and focusing on the transition from Yeltsin’s to Putin’s regimes. Charles Hecker’s Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia, was published in December 2024 and but is worth again highlighting as a study of how the economy, and businesses, developed on a fast-track for three decades only to run into a brick wall from February 2022.

Books worth highlighting in the Russia “Up close and Personal” Category are Jill Dougherty’s My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin, and Mike Calvey’s Odyssey Moscow: One American's Journey from Russia Optimist to Prisoner of the State.Dougherty is a veteran journalist and Russia commentator, while Calvey was one of Russia’s most successful investors before, as the title of his book states, he was on the wrong side of a business dispute with somebody with a powerful connection. People who lived and worked in Russia over the past few decades will appreciate Steven Fisher’s Once Upon a Russia: Voices from a Vanished Era,which is a collection of essays from departed expats reflecting on some memory or experience of their time in Russia from the early 90s and up to 2021.