Persia in the Great Game [Hardcover]

Antony Wynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2003

Percy Sykes was sent by Army Intelligence in the 1890s, first as an explorer and spy, then to open consulates along Persia's eastern borders. His job was to deter Russian expansion towards India. Unpaid, he rode through thousands of miles of the harshest desert, marsh and mountain, often with his indomitable sister. When consul at Meshed during a very turbulent time, he bugged the Russian consulate and, armed only with diplomacy, single-handedly faced down a Russian attempt to annex north-east Persia. During World War, Wassmuss - the German Lawrence - incited the southern tribes of Persia against the British. Sykes, who knew everyone that mattered in Persia, was sent out to raise a regiment of local villagers to keep Persian oil safe for the Royal Navy. Sykes was no blimp. He hunted gazelle with princes, read Persian poetry, sat at the feet of dervish masters and got to the heart of the country. His 25 years in Persia, laced with humour and domestic detail, give an insight into Persia that is still instructive today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Antony Wynn has produced a well researched and highly readable life of a character who, in his own day, astonished his contemporaries by his courage and his cheek" -- TLS 20030530 "Well-researched, hard-nosed, and engaging biography." -- FT 20030315 'Antony Wynn is full of marvellous, half-believable tales of bluff and daring' -- The Sunday Telegraph 20040118 "Antony Wynn is his ideal biographer. His book is both an epic adventure and grand-scale view of the time" -- The Oxford Times 20030411 'Engrossing story' -- Eastern Daily Press 20040124 'Wynn is an old Persia hand and his expertise informs a bold, little-known narrative' -- The Times 20040101

From the Publisher

Percy Sykes was sent to Persia by British Army Intelligence in the 1890s, first as an explorer and spy, then to open consulates along Persia’s eastern borders. His job was to deter Russian expansion towards India. Unpaid, he rode through thousands of miles of the harshest desert, marsh, and mountain. While a consul at Meshed during a very turbulent time, he bugged the Russian consulate and, armed only with diplomacy, single–handedly faced down a Russian attempt to annex northeast Persia. During World War I, Wassmuss, “the German Lawrence,” incited the southern tribes of Persia against the British. Sykes, who knew everyone that mattered in Persia, was sent out to raise a regiment of villagers to keep Persian oil safe for the Royal Navy. Persia in the Great Game is an engagingly written, superbly researched biography of an astonishing character who hunted gazelle with princes, read Persian poetry, sat at the feet of dervish masters, and got to the heart of a country. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: John Murray (March 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719564077
• ISBN-13: 978-0719564079
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,094,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A perfect character study of the Great Gamer Sir Percy Sykes and an indispensable introduction to modern Iran, April 22, 2007

By 

Magalini Sabina "sabina" (Rome Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Persia in the Great Game: Sir Percy Sykes Explorer, Consul, Soldier, Spy (Paperback)

Persia was interested in the Great Game as one of the possible routes to India for the Russians and for this reason became the object of England's important presence in this area. The political situation of Iran today finds it roots in the confilctive relationships between Britain and Russia during the Victorian Age and the early Nineteenth Century.

Sir Percy Sykes was one of the principal englishmen that influenced the permanence of the English in Persia and due to his remarkable caracter is still rememberd there today.

Antony Wynn draws abbundantly from Sir Percy's, his sister Ella's and his wife Evelyn's diaries, official documents and correspondance to bring back to life this rocky and slightly megalomaniac server of his country. From training in the cavalry in India, to the extensive explorations of Kashmir, Ladakh, Turkmenistan and the whole Persian territory, Sykes' career is followed to the founding of the Kerman consulate and after that the permanence in Meshed, where he probably really influenced the insucess of the Russian attempt to annex the North of Persia.
After WWI Russia and Britain became allies and the services of Sykes became very important. Eventhough a diplomat and not a military he founded and commanded the South Persia Rifles that became the first modern Persian army. In contrast to the Central Governement he managed to check the influence of the Germans and check the tribal disorders mustered up by Wassmuss and defeated the raiding tribes of the South ensuring the safety of commerce.
After the war, Lord Curzon showed no sympathy for this knowledgable but difficult to treat military/diplomat, and practically determined his retirement. Sir Percy however had many arrows to his bow and through conferences, articles, books and public apprearances managed to support his vast family.

Antont Wynn writes with detail and is never boring. Historical biographies gain much when contextualization is attempted. In this aspect I found the book a little defective even if the bibliography and the recalls to other sources is satisfying. The photographs add flavour to the reading helping to visualize the caracters.

This book is an indispensable read for the understanding of how the Iranian opinion of the West has formed and is still ongoing. The description of the basis of the economical and political relationships between England and Iran are still part of our current situation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Munro comments, May 15, 2011

By 

George Munro - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Persia in the Great Game (Hardcover)

A very excellent book for anyone seeking to obtain a grasp of what travel in Persia was like at the turn of the 19th century (1900) Detailed descriptions of the country, the administration, and the people are given in an easy to read and fascinating account of Sir Percy Sykes' life as a spy and a Government representative in that country.