Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia | Peter Hopkirk
3 posts | 6 read | 1 reading | 8 to read
THE GREATGAME: THE EPIC STORY BEHIND TODAY'S HEADLINES Peter Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great imperial struggle for supremacy in Central Asoa has been hailed as essential reading with that era's legacy playing itself out today. The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road-both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to twenty miles at some points. Now, in the vacuum left by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there is once again talk of Russian soldiers "dipping their toes in the Indian Ocean." The Washington Post has said that "every story Peter Hopkirk touches is totally engrossing." In this gripping narrative he recounts a breathtaking tale of espionage and treachery through the actual experiences of its colorful characters. Based on meticulous scholarship and on-the-spot research, this is the history at the core of today's geopolitics.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
writerlibrarian
post image

Non-fiction #adventrecommends. Hopkirk writes in a way that these British and Russian spies, adventurers, explorers read like fictional heroes playing a huge, masterly game of chess in one of the most mysterious, dangerous and incredible place in the world.

review
Eyejaybee
post image
Mehso-so

A fascinating subject, but somehow the ‘Boy‘s Own‘ prose detracted from what would otherwise have been a comprehensive and compelling account. See my Goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/903335.The_Great_Game. #peterhopkirk #thegreatgame #history #india #militaryhistory #espionage #adventure #18thcentury #19thcentury #book #books #bookstagram

blurb
Alisnazzy
post image

#fictionnonfiction pairings. These two tomes deal with the struggle over the central Asian steppe region. These are both on my TBR, but once I finish my current library loans, the Great Game is being read. I know next to nothing about this part of history, but it seems fascinating.

RealLifeReading Those look really interesting! Love coming across books I've not heard of before 8y
LeahBergen These sound good! 8y
See All 6 Comments
RanaElizabeth You should check out Colin Thubron, he's a travel writer whose work covers a lot of this area. 8y
Alisnazzy @RanaElizabeth thanks! Added them to my TBR 😄 8y
77 likes5 stack adds6 comments