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Peter Hopkirk

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe) Paperback – Illustrated, May 15, 1992

by Peter Hopkirk (Author)

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—

THE GREATGAME: THE EPIC STORY BEHIND TODAY’S HEADLINES

Peter Hopkirk’s spellbinding account of the great imperial struggle for supremacy in Central Asoa has been hailed as essential reading with that era’s legacy playing itself out today.

The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road—both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to twenty miles at some points. Now, in the vacuum left by the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there is 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 and treachery through the actual experiences of its colorful characters. Based on meticulous scholarship and on-the-spot research, this is the history at the core of today’s geopolitics.

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Editorial Reviews

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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.

Peter Hopkirk, a former reporter for The Times 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. --John Stevenson

From Publishers Weekly

Chronicles the imperial struggle for power in Central Asia between Victorian England and Czarist Russia.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Item Weight : 1.61 pounds
Paperback : 564 pages
ISBN-10 : 1568360223
ISBN-13 : 978-1568360225
Dimensions : 5.64 x 1.6 x 8.42 inches
Publisher : Kodansha International (May 15, 1992)
Language: : English

Best Sellers Rank: #45,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Afghanistan Travel Guides
- #3 in Central Asia History
- #27 in Middle Eastern Politics

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RachelB

A Pure Delight for Great Game Aficionados

Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2016

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Words cannot express the invaluable service that Peter Hopkirk has rendered to students of the Great Game with this impressive volume. Starting heartrendingly with the 1842 execution of Colonel Charles Stoddart and Captain Arthur Conolly at the hands of the villainous Emir of Bokhara, climaxing with Francis Younghusband's meeting with the Russian Captain Gromchevsky in the Pamirs that almost ignited a war, and ending with the ill-fated British mission to Lhasa, The Great Game keeps the reader in a constant state of suspense. During Hopkirk's research, he came across a rare photograph of Younghusband and Gromchevsky's 1889 meeting north of Hunza that almost came to disaster, which is included in this volume. Along the way, the reader is introduced to such personalities as Yakub Beg, Frederick Burnaby, James Abbott (namesake of the infamous Abbottabad of Bin Laden fame), Alexander Burnes, Colonel Nikolai Prejevalsky, Sir William Macnaghten, intelligence agent extraordinaire who was the [US Ambassador] Christopher Stevens of his day), and the terminally choleric Emir of Bokhara--all players in the Great Game. As a testament to Hopkirk's skill as a writer, The Great Game reads more like an espionage novel than a dry history. It is, in fact, a pure delight as well as a cautionary tale for our generation.

20 people found this helpful

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dmiguer

Games Empires Play

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2019

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In 1236 Mongol horsemen swept westward through Russia, tying serfs to the Tartar yoke. The Golden Horde would exact tribute until Ivan the Terrible defeated the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in the mid 1500's, opening the way for expansion east through Siberia. Peter the Great turned his gaze south, through the Caucasus and Caspian towards Persia, yet was thwarted by Nader Shah in 1735. In 1757 the British began major territorial gains in India. The aspirations and apprehensions of these rival European empires became the 'Great Game', played out in Central Asia during the 1800's.

In the late 18th century, the British were concerned with Catherine the Great's expansion into Crimea, but distracted by the rise of Napoleon. The Russian defeat of the French in 1812 helped to end one concern but created another. Threat of a Russian attack on India (via Turkey and Tehran) obsessed the British, and a cold war Russophobia took hold. Tsar Alexander I sent envoys to Khiva (present day Uzbekistan) to make allies and secure forward positions. British probed passes of Afghanistan seeking similar advantage in Bukhara, a neighboring kingdom on the Silk Road.

A Russian treaty with the Ottoman Empire to control the Dardenelles Straight stoked paranoia in the 1830's. British intrigue in Kabul precipitated the disastrous Anglo-Afghan War of the 1840's. The 1850's Crimean War strained Russian relations with Britain. The 1860's US civil war raised Russian interests in Central Asian cotton, and Tashkent was taken. Soon Samarkand fell. Spies like Frederick Burnaby rode to Khiva in the 1870's. Britain seized the Suez Canal in the 1880's while Russia layed rails in Central Asia. Russians invaded Afghanistan in the 1890's, as did the British in early 1900's Tibet.

Author Peter Hopkirk culls from many period accounts. He tells the stories of adventurers, spies, secret agents and provocateurs. Geographical survey was a priority, as much was unknown about the region. Henry Pottinger, in Muslim disquise, explored from Baluchistan to Isfahan in 1810. He later played a leading role in the Opium War, Treaty of Nanking, and founding of Hong Kong. Alexander Burnes, who made an overland reconnaissance in 1831, traced the Indus River, crossed the Khyber Pass to Kabul and became famous during his lifetime for the book 'Travels Into Bukhara'.

Hopkirk was a late 20th century British writer, perhaps best known for this work. He began as a journalist on risky assignments in Africa and the Mideast. Widely traveled, he was a collector of Victorian books on the subjects he covered. All of his works were about Central and South Asia, covering eclectic topics such as archaeology in Xinjiang, Bolshevik subversion in India and Kipling's sources of inspiration for Kim. The history is anglocentric, but takes a reasonable view towards other players. The writing is unpretentious and clear, if somewhat oversimplified and given to cliche at times.

4 people found this helpful

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Spatially Mapped

between the dominions of the great powers Russia and Great Britain

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2017

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• Many boys (and probably many girls too) grow up dreaming about adventure: exploration, seizing opportunity, exotic locations, solitary travels in wild locales, especially to foreign enclaves never before visited by westerners (or only by mythic predecessors) with strange customs and filled with riches and danger and invariably ruled by mercurial despots. Since these no longer exist, or, more probably, have been de-romanticized, much of this longing is now transferred to science fiction. But in the 18th and 19th century it was all very real. In Asia, between the dominions of the great powers Russia and Great Britain, much of the continent was ruled by medieval political entities fragmented by deserts, rivers, and mountain ranges whose names themselves are the ultimate romantic evocation: The Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Oxus, the lands and cities of the Sild Road, Samarkand, Bokhara, Tashkent, Kandahar. It was a time when a single intrepid adventurer could make a heroic journey, bluff, impress, and bribe his way into the good graces of the local potentate, and make a treaty that would shift world power. Or perhaps explore and survey the unknown geography and customs to prepare for the next traveler. This was the Great Game.
As the quotes on the cover attest, Peter Hopkirk is “truly the laureate of the Great Game.” A former top-shelf reporter, he has also sufficient historian cred and sense of drama to combine research, analysis, synthesis, and storytelling into a fantastic, entertaining, and informative book. A series of adventure stories for grown up boys. The tapestry is the vastness of central Asia in what are now Russian, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Xinxiang, Tibet, Nepal, and all the ‘stans’ of the former Soviet Union. As the decades progress the expeditions get larger. From the single adventurer to pairs to squadrons to occupation and frontier war. But (in retrospect this is obvious) never a major war between the principals.
What cliff hangers: From a random page (242): “But is was far from over yet. Worse – much worse – was yet to follow.” And just plain excitement: on one random page (104) -- “where `all the horrors and abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah’ were practiced”; “Eversmann’s disguise … must have been remarkably convincing, for the Emir’s secret police … suspected nothing ….” And sweep: another chapter begins, “in the beginning of the 19th century, the three warring khanates of Khiva, Bokhara, and Kokand between them ruled the vast region … half the size of America ….”
This is the flavor of the book. There is no pretense to making a larger point other than the obvious ones: clash of cultures, the mind of the adventurer, 19th century imperialism, the methods of exploration. This is a good thing. In fact, the only criticism is the huge number of stories. No part is too long or drags. But in the end 500 pages is a lot of Saturday afternoon movie excitement to read straight through. It may be best enjoyed over a year of Saturdays!

7 people found this helpful

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Biffle French

More fun than anything I've read for a while

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2017

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More fun than anything I've read for a while. The history of Russian expansion in Central Asia during the 19th century and the resulting conflict with Britain. If you've ever wondered how Kazakhstan became part of the Soviet Union then this book will give you the answer. Along the way you'll be introduced to some of the bravest, toughest and occasionally unluckiest men who ever served her Majesty. I couldn't put it down.

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer

Required reading for all our politions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2017

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This should be required reading for all diplomats and politicians - it's thrilling, fascinating and heart breaking in equal measure. Peter Hopkirk brilliantly takes us through the history of Central Asia entertaining and enthralling us as we go. The struggle between Russia and the British for the treasures of India was played out amidst the high passes and great desserts of central Asia and the political and military decisions taken in the 19th century led to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and ultimately to the continuing instability of the world today. And yet whilst examining this fascinating and complex subject he manages to always bring us back to the individuals who led the way, Pottinger, Connolly, Burnes to name a few who are all brought startlingly to life and make you want to weep at their courage and resilience. I read it whilst travelling through Uzbekistan through the great cities of the Silk Roads - on a train snaking its way through the Pamir mountains into the Ferghana Valley - context is everything!

14 people found this helpful

Levin42

History as it should be written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2014

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I bought Peter Hopkirk's The Great Game several months ago and put off reading it immediately, I think because a cursory glace indicated that it might be somewhat heavy. I could not have been more wrong. From the outset, the book combines an incredible depth of knowledge with the exuberance and enthusiasm of a boy's own adventure story. It is one of the most compulsive works of history I have read, and I learnt a huge amount about the vast region of Central Asia, that virtual black hole on the surface of the Earth, and the almost forgotten intrigues of the 19th century. The secret seems to be down to Hopkirk's almost perfect balancing act between the high-level geopolitics and the exploits of the individual players, many of which are so incredible as to be scarcely believable. The truth is stranger than fiction indeed!

Highly recommended, and also a remarkably timely read: there are many parallels of note here with the current deterioration in the West's relationship with Russia.

A final note: I would strongly recommend the paperback over the kindle version. Unless you're already well versed in the geography of the region, you'll find yourself regularly flicking back to the provided maps, sometimes several times a page. I would not want to have attempted this with a Kindle.

14 people found this helpful

jmkj

Kim's "Great Game" - interpreted.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2015

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I ordered to this after re-reading Kim on Kindle and reigniting an interest in The Great Game. It is absolutely fantastic, reading like a thriller, one is often left in suspense at the end a chapter, which Power is going to move next, Russia or Great Britain, what will be the fate of the intrepid explorers of both nations - safe return with vital information or death at the hands of a despot? The only criticism is the poor quality of the maps, it takes time to work out which khanate is where if one doesn't know the geography of the area ( and even those with a little knowledge can get muddled between Khokand, Bokhara, and Khiva). I'm now rearing to read the rest of Peter Hopkirk's books on the subject. By the way this was bought second hand through Amazon - it was in very good condition and a healthy saving from the price new.

4 people found this helpful

james thornberry

Very interesting book, bought prior to a trip to ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2017

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Very interesting book, bought prior to a trip to Uzbekistan. I have never had much of an interest in history but this book is fascinating. I wont remember all I read but I just can't put it down. History always repeats it's self is the conclusion I reached. I wish we could learn to try something different.
After reading this book I believe you will have a totally new look at the news you watch and read and realise, it is just a game that never ends and is the same today as it was centuries ago.
My fear is, we will never change,

Oh! Quick delivery from the seller and a very fair price. Thank you.

4 people found this helpful

Akkers

Superb book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2017

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This is a really brilliant book. It is not about one person or group or one time. It covers a vast area and long time period. However, the author keeps you glued to the book with the action constantly moving. You do need a fair knowledge of geography to fully appreciate this book.

4 people found this helpful

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