The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia by Peter Hopkirk (PDF)

Description

For nearly a century the two most powerful nations on earth, Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia, fought a secret war in the lonely passes and deserts of Central Asia. Those engaged in this shadowy struggle called it ‘The Great Game’, a phrase immortalized by Kipling. When play first began the two rival empires lay nearly 2,000 miles apart. By the end, some Russian outposts were within 20 miles of India. This classic book tells the story of the Great Game through the exploits of the young officers, both British and Russian, who risked their lives playing it. Disguised as holy men or native horse-traders, they mapped secret passes, gathered intelligence and sought the allegiance of powerful khans. Some never returned. The violent repercussions of the Great Game are still convulsing Central Asia today.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Very well written. Unbelievable story that clears up a lot of misunderstood history. Courageous men doing remarkable brave things.

⭐Bottom Line First: In The Great Game, Peter Hopkirk has reported a lot of history with just enough analysis. Strongly recommended for both the serious student of history and the more general reader looking to get a foundation in a complicated and often ignored portion of world history. My caution is that it is too easy to think of this period as a mirror of or direct predictor of what is now happening in Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring areas.The Great Game constitutes my second attempt to build a background on a region described as the Top of the World. The prior read

⭐while good enough in its way is a distinct second place to The Great Game. What makes Hopkirk the better historian of this period is that he has stripped away the biographical material and focused on events and motives. In other words less about who the individuals were and more about what specifically Russia and Great Briton were doing and what they hoped to accomplish.Russia depending on the period was engaged in1. What might be thought of as Russia’s version of Manifest Destiny. From a Russian point of view, the natural boundaries of Russia could include everything east of the Caucuses all the way to the Pacific (At one point Russia had active control of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest south into California) curbed only by whatever parts of India that England failed to hold and as much of China as she failed to hold.2. The place where aggressive military officers could demonstrate their fitness for higher station and bigger titles. That is the Imperial Court could be counted upon to reward success and deny failure. The gold is for the winner as long as he takes all the risks3. Part of a vague and almost legendary belief that Russia was destined to rule the world.The other recognized partner in The Great Game was Great Briton. Her situation was relatively simple.1. Protect existing holdings from real and perceived threat by Imperial Russia.2. Combine intelligence activity to understand the routes a Russian invasion might take, with developing client states friendly to Great Briton.What the Great Game fails to analyze is the thinking and interests of the many peoples who would fight against, ally with or otherwise own all of the ground that the two recognized powers would invade, fight over or otherwise manipulate in favor of goals rarely consistent with the culture or needs of the peoples who were already there.The absence of this third/fourth/however many points of view leads me to caution readers against thinking that with this book they can speak definitively about the challenges Soviet Russia failed to overcome in the end of their empire; or the reasons why the American Invasion had to last as long as it has while being careful about purposes and minimal goals.Hopkirk will often remind us that this or that Mongol or Turkoman leader was born to intrigue and treachery. He is clear that religion, especially the Muslim religion was an important part of why the Europeans were unwelcome and violently resisted. There is a wonderful description of the arrival of a Muslim party in a Russian village. They are appalled at the visibility of Russian women and offended by the presence of and apparent worship of the idols (Icons) in Russian Churches. Hopkirk is also quick to contrast the deliberate attempts to remain remote by the leadership and peoples in what are now famous tourist places like Herat or Tibet.There are so many details missing. Nationalism and religion continue to render Europeans, especially their military as automatically to be resisted. In many of these cultures, raiding remains a part of what people do. Complete with family owned and handed down ambush positions. Villages can be situated so as to control entrance/exit for military purposes, even at the cost of commercial traffic.The Great Game is excellent at the history it does relate. The political and military motives, moves and thinking of England and Russia are well told. By design the many local peoples are not the purpose of this history. It is this part of the story that is most critical to a modern reader looking for historic answers to questions relating to modern regional geopolitics.

⭐Having always had an interest in how the world is manipulated by the powers that be. This book filled a big gap. WW11 being my favorite era to study , and the Spanish Civil war, the French Revolution and the American Civil war and WW1 also always attacting me, I have only recently become interested in what went on outside of Europe. Basically everything east of Moscow and Stalingrad was and still is a blank to me.But this book, was definitely an eye opener. What took place in India, Afghanistan and Persia, and all those so far away places that we never hear a word about, comes to life in this book. A landscape where this all takes place so strange and exotic. Horrid deserts and unscaleable mtns consumed so many of the players. I really enjoyed the book. It most definitely planted a seed that make me want to know more.The writer is to be commended for stringing this story along in such an interesting way. Only reason I don’t give it five stars is I am still waiting on that perfect book to get that grade. This one was close.

⭐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.

⭐I knew some of his already, but still found this a fascinating book. Central Asia was largely unmapped for most of the 19th century and allowed, (in age when regional communication was often no faster than a pony could trot) all sorts of conspiracies, ambitions and misunderstandings to flourish. The men ( & they were all men) who tried to further British and Russian interests often achieved “Mission: Impossible” feats. Well worth a read for entertainment, but also because lots of the underlying conflicts are still relevant – especially in Afghanistan. A minor source of amusement was spotting bias in the language used. Although the author claimed to remain neutral, he refers, for example, to Englishmen as “resourceful” but Indians as “wily”; Englishmen are “stationed” , but Russians “lurk”. Don’t let this minor issue spoil a good read though.

⭐524 pages of sometimes informative text and sometimes comical descriptions that border on Boys Own ‘Ripping Yarns’. So, on the one hand we are given insight into the terrain and disparate fiefdoms of central Asia bordering on Afghanistan, as well as the context ‘The Great Game’ was conducted in, but on the other we have a myriad of tales of ‘derring-do’. The problem is that while there is an extensive bibliography none of it (apart from the mention of Kaye’s 1874 text) is referenced. This means that the numerous tales of young, heroic ‘subalterns’ and other army types who are brilliant, educated at Rugby (etc.) and can speak numerous languages, sound more like adventure stories than academic texts. And when we get quotes like ‘it was said that his men wept when he had to leave’ about a Russian officer in the great game, it is hard not to ask who said it and where. A constant stream of these kinds of un-referenced comments leads to doubt as to what is real and what is included to make the adventure flow like a novel.We are told about the disputes between the ruling elites of both Britain and Russia over whether each side really offered an immediate threat to their spheres of influence, power and security, but apart from that there is very little analysis. It seems that most military history takes it as read that war and the threat of war is the basis for ‘real’ politics and that all focus should be on ‘great men’, so major parts of the text dwell on this. As such there is very little on the activities of the minor players in the great game that Kipling wrote about in Kim and there is no questioning at all about the point of it all in the first place, which some would argue was the protection of the source of wealth of the elite great men with financial interests in British India and the greed of their Russian equivalent.I tried to enjoy it, but found it very shallow and descriptive with nothing to stimulate the thought processes and no references whatsoever.Since then I have read Afghanistan, a Cultural and Political History by T Barfield which has no stories of derring-do, but is much more enlightening and analytical, albeit with a couple of shortcomings.

⭐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!

⭐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.

⭐The author distils what at the time must have seemed a highly complex history, embellished with plenty of smokescreens and scoundrels on both sides, into a series of adventures in which a succession of British heroes, many only in their twenties, ventured into the abyss of central Asia from Herat to Hunza for the sake of the defence of India. They did this despite the well-known savagery of the regions visited, and not all returned. This is a fabulous read, showing the extent to which, for a hundred years, devious Russia became as much of a headache for Britain after the Napoleonic Wars as after the two world wars a century later, until the Russo-Japanese War and mutual concern over Germany had finally put an end to this particular bout of Anglo-Russian rivalry. The spies and agents mapped out, manipulated, and encouraged trade into the hitherto unknown regions Russia would have to cross in order to confront India, but the end the British had to watch their worst fears gradually become reality, largely because of the government’s strategy of `masterly inactivity’ during a critical period and then encirclement by southern Russian railways. What is surprising is the extent to which the first men such as Conolly, Burnes, Kinneir, Moorcroft, and Urquahart so soon went on to publish their memoires and therefore to let the cat out of the bag. Uzbekistan lies at the centre of many of the earlier stories and clearly beckons a visit. Two disasastrous wars in Afghanistan failed to teach a lesson to either the locals or their invaders, including the Russians and NATO in more recent times. The history ends with the British marching into Tibet with the famous Younghusband (only in order to be listened to) and being directly responsible for an avoidable massacre. So much for colonialism.

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