Svat Soucek (full name Svatopluk Souček) is a compiler and author of works in relation to Central Asia, and Central Asian studies. He was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He has a PhD in Turkish and Arabic studies from Columbia University. He worked in the Oriental Division of the New York Public Library,^[1] and as a professor of history at Princeton University, specialising in historical cartography.^[2] His works include Piri Reis and Turkish Mapmaking After Columbus (1996), A History of Inner Asia (2000), The Persian Gulf: Its Past and Present (2008), and The History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks (2012).^[3]