Soviet Central Asia – these three words capture a vastly diverse and dynamic experience across time and space. This experience evokes images and memories of mass violence and death but also stirs immense pride and enthusiasm. From both a central and local perspective, the natural and cultural goods of Central Asia were an economic, cultural, and political resource, and the region’s achievements a showcase of ‘progress’. For some, Soviet Central Asia was a place of opportunities and adventure, for others neo-colonial oppression, or a bitter site of exile. For most people in the region (and for many who left it), it was simply their beloved home, Soviet or not. In this special issue of Saeculum, the authors seek to capture the diversity of the Soviet Central Asian experience across different union republics and historical periods (with the temporal focus of most articles, however, lying on the post-Stalin era).