FIKRET YILDIRIM, ERHAN AYDIN, RISBEK ALIMOV. YENISEY-KIRGIZISTAN YAZITLARI VE IRK BITIG. Ankara: BilgeSu, 2013. 512 s.* The book under review is an attempt to publish a set of monuments of ancient Turkic runic writing found in the river basin. The Yenisei River, on the territory of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, and ancient Uyghur Turfan texts, also written in runic script. The main part of the book is presented by the author's sections, respectively dedicated to each individual group of monuments. The authors are well-known Turkologists, specialists in the field of ancient Turkic culture, while each of them is known for his works in the chosen field: E. Aydin " Yenisei inscriptions "(s. 15-278), R. Alimov " Inscriptions of Kyrgyzstan "(s. 279-337), F. Iyldirim "Ancient Turkic texts written in Runic script on paper" (s. 339-494). Each section begins with an introduction that briefly describes the history of the study of this group of monuments and characterizes the state of study to date, and ends with an extensive bibliography; at the end of the book, a dictionary of vocabulary mentioned in certain monuments is attached (s. 495-512). Executive Editor of the issue M. Olmez, who is also widely known for his work on ancient Uighur written monuments, points out in the preface that this book is intended to replace the classic edition of X. Namyk (Orkun), during the past 75 years since the first volume of which was published, both the inscription database itself has significantly expanded, and many corrections and new attempts to read the texts known at that time have appeared (s. 13). The publication of such a plan today should certainly be considered an important event not only for Turkey, but also for the entire Turkological community, especially since such well-known experts took part in its compilation. However, with a more thorough review of the work, frustration comes. The extensive bibliographies given at the end of the sections allow us to take into account all the ... Читать далее