Images From The Endgame: Persia through a Russian Lens, 1901-1914 [Hardcover]

John Tchalenko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2006

Alexander Ivanovitch Iyas, officer in the Tsar’s Lithuanian Regiment, arrived in Persia in 1901. Through his years there he documented places, people, and events in these remarkable photographs for which no other comprehensive collection exists. These photos offer a unique insight into the Great Game—the historical rivalry between Britain and Russia for the domination of Central Asia.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Armed with a Kodak Panorm, which could take wide-angle images, Alexander Ivanovitch Iyas, an officer in the Tsar’s Lithuanian Regiment, was transferred to Soujbulak, near Persia’s western border with Turkey in 1912. Throughout his years in Persia he documented the places, people and events he encountered with some remarkable photographs, providing us today with a rare Russian point of view of the Great Game – the rivalry between Britain and Russia for the domination of Central Asia.

About the Author

John Tchalenko travelled extensively in Iran as an earthquake geologist, where he first came across the traces of Alexander Iyas who he eventually discovered to be his great-uncle. Tchalenko is currently Reader in Drawing and Cognition at the University of the Arts, London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 150 pages
• Publisher: Saqi Books (November 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863567355
• ISBN-13: 978-0863567353
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living History, November 15, 2006

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Pirooz (CCS Venezuela) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Images From The Endgame: Persia through a Russian Lens, 1901-1914 (Hardcover)

An amazing book.

A fascinating read as the story-line winds its way through the notes written by A. Iyas to Russian Foreign Ministry & other high ranking Russian officials. To know that Iran was the playground for the regional/super powers (Ottomans, England & Russia) during the last several decades of the Qajar Dynasty is one thing, to see it being micromanaged through the meticulous notes of a mid/high level civil servant, stationed in a particularly volatile region is quite another.

Then there are the images that breath life into the text and transport the reader to a time and place long gone. For example, there are some amazing photographs of Kurdish leaders, surrounded by their tribal warriors, that are so vivid as to make the reader feel the tension of the events leading to the taking of these pictures. The paper quality is near photographic paper quality; a true luxury that enhances the image quality several fold.

Meanwhile, the author does a wonderful job of filling in any blanks and giving background when it is absolutely needed to place people and events in context.
One may or may not agree with the innocence and purity of mind and intention attributed to the central figure (A. Iyas) but regardless of whether or not we buy that argument, all should agree that this book sheds lots of light on many hitherto unknown (or little known) actors who helped shape regional events in the years immediately preceding the Big War (WWI).

A must for any serious historian or lover of exquisite turn of the century photography.

Loved the book, and bought several more for friends & family to read.