The Great Game
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." 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.
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What Hacker News says
- If The Great Game you mentioned is the one by Peter Hopkirk, it's fantastic.
- This is a great book to learn about the Silk Road in particular Central Asia and the role Russia and UK played in its transformation. It reads like a Game of Thrones novel.
Interesting note is Russia colonized Central Asia with the end goal of invading India.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/...
- For some reason all such articles bring the last soldier killed in a war to mind:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Gunther
Jimmy Carter started the modern Afghanistan war by creating and arming the terrorists to attack the then Soviet Union.
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/how-jimmy-carter-...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/01/07/history-tr...
He definitely left a legacy on Afghanistan in the modern era.
For those who are into history do look up The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk.
- Two other great history reads are -
1. The Great Game - by Peter Hopkirk 2. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples - by Winston Churchill
- My favorite historian about the British Empire is Peter Hopkirk.
His books primarily deal with central/southeast Asia.
Some books he's written: 1. The Great Game 2. Setting the East Ablaze 3. Like Hidden Fire 4. Trespassers on the Roof of the World.
- For non technical easy reads you might try:
River of America Books (History of specific Rivers)------ American Trails Series (History of specific Trails)------ Great Game - Peter Hopkirk------ Black Lamb & Gray Falcon - Rebecca West - About Yugoslavia---- Lyndon Johnson - Robert Caro - (3 books)
