* Grand, sweeping, gripping narrative history at its best: an anecdotal, character-driven account of the race for empire in Asia that supersedes Peter Hopkirk's classic THE GREAT GAME
The original Great Game (1800-1917), the clandestine struggle between Russia and Britain for mastery of Central Asia, has long been regarded as one of the greatest geopolitical conflicts in history. The prize, control of the vast Eurasian heartland, was believed by some to be the key to world domination. Teeming with improbable drama and exaggerated tensions, the conflict featured soldiers, mystics and spies, among them some of history's most colourful and romantic characters.
While the original Great Game ended with the Russian Revolution, the geopolitical wrangles for territory and power have continued into the late twentieth century - culminating in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac's magisterial one-volume survey chronicles nearly two centuries of conflict in vivid and compelling fashion.
Monumental . . . A remarkable achievement - Jan Morris, OBSERVER
A scrupulously balanced and extremely readable chronicle . . . A book about cartography, achaeology, anthropology and several other things, as well as exploration and imperial lust - Geoffrey Moorhouse, GUARDIAN
Terrific . . . Although this book is a big one, its pages race away - Nigel Jones, SUNDAY EXPRESS
Entertaining, fluent and absorbing - INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY