British intelligence officer’s book about Kazakhs kept in library of Columbia University

NEW YORK. KAZINFORM - Books about Kazakhs and Kazakhstan can be read in the old library of the Columbia University in New York, Kazinform has learnt from the adviser to the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Anuar Zhainakov‘s Facebook account.

«Kazakh SSR gylym academysynyn khabarlary» (1959), «Kazakhstan during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945» (1964), «Batyr Srym» (1947) - these and other books about Kazakhs and Kazakhstan were accidentally noticed on the shelves of the Columbia University’s library in New York», wrote Anuar Zhainakov. According to him the most interesting book was the one with maps and illustrations. The book told about the journey of Ralph Cobbold (10.02.1869 – 05.12.1965), a British soldier and intelligence officer, to the city of Verny (Almaty) and Lake Balkhash.

This book, entitled «INNERMOST ASIA - Travels and Sport in the Pamirs», was published in New York in 1900. The author fascinatingly describes the city of Almaty in 19-20 centuries, the Lake Balkhash, and even man hunting for the then-extinct Turan tigers.