false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172093734m/138299.jpg 138299 7 In a phrase coined by Captain Arthur Connolly of the East India Company before he was beheaded in Bokhara for spying in 1842, a "Great Game" was played between Tsarist Russia and Victorian England for supremacy in Central Asia. At stake was the security of India, key to the wealth of the British Empire. When play began early in the 19th century, the frontiers of the two imperial powers lay two thousand miles apart, across vast deserts and almost impassable mountain ranges; by the end, only 20 miles separated the two rivals.<p> Peter Hopkirk, a former reporter for <I>The Times</I> of London with wide experience of the region, tells an extraordinary story of ambition, intrigue, and military adventure. His sensational narrative moves at breakneck pace, yet even as he paints his colorful characters--tribal chieftains, generals, spies, Queen Victoria herself--he skillfully provides a clear overview of the geographical and diplomatic framework. The Great Game was Russia's version of America's "Manifest Destiny" to dominate a continent, and Hopkirk is careful to explain Russian viewpoints as fully as those of the British. The story ends with the fall of Tsarist Russia in 1917, but the demise of the Soviet Empire (hastened by a decade of bloody fighting in Afghanistan) gives it new relevance, as world peace and stability are again threatened by tensions in this volatile region of great mineral wealth and strategic significance. <I>--John Stevenson</I> 133307 1990 The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe) total:329|5:137|4:144|3:45|2:2|1:1| 329 1401 495 78 5 3 false false Mon Nov 17 21:02:07 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 22:54:46 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Thu Oct 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 12:49:37 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 11:29:22 -0700 2008 once more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 20:13:10 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 20:17:29 -0700 2009
It's a bit of a read but con...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 26 19:49:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 19:49:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 14 21:38:08 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 22:18:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 07:43:03 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 04:25:11 -0700 2009 The Man Who Would be King (story or movie), Kim, the Flashman novels, or Errol Flynn's Charge of the Light Brigade, this is the book for you. Seriously, there's enough material in this book for twenty movies or novels. What a cast of characters! Evil Khans, torture, battles, sieges, (l...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Aug 01 16:31:46 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 16:35:06 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Oct 07 07:28:20 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 07:29:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Mar 16 13:56:38 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 16 13:56:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 05 14:54:37 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 05 15:07:46 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Mon Jan 19 19:31:02 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 19:34:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 04 00:15:10 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 20:38:04 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 18 05:00:52 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 05:06:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Mar 27 12:18:21 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 12:18:21 -0700 2009 And potentially relevant to curr...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Nov 25 06:43:41 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 09:39:11 -0800 2008
Now that we're bombing the region's weddings and sending our kids by the thousands to die there like the Brits and Russians before them, that time might just be...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 15:55:57 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 16:00:36 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Mar 24 06:14:23 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 06:17:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Aug 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 10:29:18 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 10:31:44 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 08:43:59 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 09:31:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jul 01 03:49:27 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 03:49:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=138299