Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014, 257 p., ill.1 At the beginning of the XX century. Mongolia was a Buddhist country where the clergy made up a significant part of the population, there were thousands of temples and other places of worship. During the construction of socialism, the church in Mongolia was destroyed, a significant part of the clergy was repressed, and most religious buildings were destroyed. The author of the book, Christopher Kaplonsky , is a British Mongol scholar who actively studies the topic of political repression during the construction of socialism in the MNR. A peer-reviewed book summarizing the results of his research. It consists of an introduction, three parts, a conclusion, comments, a list of sources, and an index. The Introduction sets out the methodology of the study, in particular the relationship between the acquisition of legitimacy by the new government of Mongolia and the"Lama issue". Kaplonski notes that this issue has never been precisely defined, but has been understood as the influence of lamas and monasteries on politics, economics, and everyday life. The lack of a clear definition made it possible to apply this designation to very different situations. The author applies the terms "state", "government" and "socialists" to the MPR interchangeably (p. 18). A detailed historical and philosophical discussion of the term "exception" is given (mainly based on the concept of the "state of exception" by the philosopher J. R. R. Tolkien). Agamben), a description of the author's work in Mongolian archives and in the field. Chapters 3-6 are combined into Part I, "The First Exclusion Technology: Constructing a New One," Chapters 7 and 8 are combined into Part 2, "The Second Exclusion Technology: Ineffective Persuasion and Coordination," and Chapters 9 and 10 are combined into Part 3, "The Third Exclusion Technology: Turning to Violence, Destruction, and Worldliness." Let's briefly review the contents of the chapters. Chapter 1 ... Read more