Cover of The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia

by Peter Hopkirk · 1990

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Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great imperial struggle for supremacy in Central Asia has been hailed as essential reading with that era's legacy playing itself out today. The Great Game between Victorian Britain & Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs & Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman & Helmund deserts, & thru the caravan towns of the old Silk Road-both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India & the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia & British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points. Now, in the vacuum left by the disintegration of the USSR, there's once again talk of Russian soldiers "dipping their toes in the Indian Ocean."

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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 & treachery thru the actual experiences of its colorful characters. Based on meticulous scholarship & on-the-spot research, this is the history at the core of today's geopolitics.

Subject
historyhistoryMore like thisLess of thispoliticspoliticsMore like thisLess of thistraveltravelMore like thisLess of thisgeographygeographyMore like thisLess of this
Genre
war and militarywar and militaryMore like thisLess of thisspy thrillerspy thrillerMore like thisLess of thishistorical fictionhistorical fictionMore like thisLess of thisVictorianVictorianMore like thisLess of thisadventureadventureMore like thisLess of this
Themes
historyhistoryMore like thisLess of thistraveltravelMore like thisLess of thispoliticspoliticsMore like thisLess of thismilitary historymilitary historyMore like thisLess of thiscolonialismcolonialismMore like thisLess of this
Setting
19th century19th centuryMore like thisLess of thisVictorianVictorianMore like thisLess of thisAsiaAsiaMore like thisLess of thisBritishBritishMore like thisLess of thisAfghanistanAfghanistanMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
long · 565 pages

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Liked The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game & the Race for Empire in Central Asia Karl Ernest Meyer, Shareen Blair Brysac · 1999 Shares history, Central Asia, nonfiction
  2. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia Rene Grousset · 1939 Shares history, Central Asia, nonfiction
  3. Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan William Dalrymple · 2013 Shares history, nonfiction, Afghanistan
  4. The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in the Asian Heartland Karl Ernest Meyer · 2003 Shares history, Central Asia, nonfiction
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“People who read The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia tend to reach for these next.”

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“If you want more of the same (history), start with these.”

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“If it was the Central Asia that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane S. Frederick Starr · 2013
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“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

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  2. The Dark Defile: Britain's Catastrophic Invasion of Afghanistan, 1838-1842 Diana Preston · 2012
  3. The Punic Wars 264–146 BC Nigel Bagnall · 2002
  4. Walking Home: A Woman's Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail Kelly Winters · 2001

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