The Great Game
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WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY GILES MILTON
'Peter Hopkirk is truly the Laureate of the Great Game' Jan Morris
'One of the paciest and most exciting works of narrative history I have ever read' William Dalrymple'There can be few more fascinating subjects, or few authors better qualified to write about it' Independent
For nearly a century the two most powerful nations on earth, Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia, fought a secret war in the lonely passes and deserts of Central Asia. Those engaged in this shadowy struggle called it 'The Great Game', a phrase immortalized by Rudyard Kipling. When play first began the two rival empires lay nearly 2,000 miles apart. By the end, some Russian outposts were within 20 miles of India.
This classic book tells the story of the Great Game through the exploits of the young officers, both British and Russian, who risked their lives playing it. Disguised as holy men or native horse-traders, they mapped secret passes, gathered intelligence and sought the allegiance of powerful khans. Some never returned. The violent repercussions of the Great Game are still convulsing Central Asia today.
Read MorePraise for The Great Game
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'Brilliant' - Patrick Leigh Fermor, Daily Telegraph'Immensely readable and magisterially detached. A gripping and impressive narrative of adventure and war' - Financial Times'Hopkirk's brilliant and engrossing account remains the classic text on how to handle the various and often dangerous people who inhabit the region, fill of tips and warnings for the Game's current players.' - BBC History MagazineGripping, page-turning stuff, as colourfully written as fiction, with a cliff-hanger at the end of each chapter. It's also a revelatory depiction of the behaviour of the colonizing powers in an era when they believed the world was theirs for the taking - and of some of the occasions on which they met with their comeuppance. - Slightly Foxed QuarterlyThose who enjoy vividly told tales of derring-do and seek a clear understanding of the history of the emerging central Asian countries with exotic names will find this a glorious book - New York TimesWhat in the hands of a lesser writer could have been a collection of obscure facts, figures, and personalities is here transformed - thanks to vibrant writing and remarkable organization - into a riveting drama of 19th-century imperialistic power-politics . . . Hopkirk organises his material with a master's touch. The result is historical writing of extraordinary power and readability - Kirkus Reviews
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