This book presents a visually-stunning account of the extraordinary costumes of the nomadic people of Central Asia. This book is unique on two counts. First, never before has a book of the costumes of the nomadic people of Central Asia been published in American or Western European literature. This lavishly-illustrated volume features the work of the eminent Russian anthropologist, Claudia Ivanova Antipina, who died in 1996 at the age of 92. Claudia Ivanova Antipina was one of only a small number of Soviet Anthropologists who devoted their lives to research among the nomadic Kyrgyz, and she herself lived most of her life in Kyrgyzstan. Her work focused particularly on the material culture of the Southern Kyrgyz. The costumes and documentation in this volume represent a substantial body of research collected by the anthropologist during the years of her life in Kyrgyzstan, and have never before been published. Second, it is illustrated with the images by the French photographer Rolando Paiva, who travelled throughout Kyrgyzstan to document its people and costumes. His work furthers that of the anthropologists, showing the transformation, the evolution and above all the preservation of the Kyrgyz identity that is representative of the nomadic culture of Central Asia.