Tournament of Shadows : The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia - Softcover

Meyer, Karl, And Shareen Brysac

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349113661 ISBN 13: 9780349113661

Publisher: Abacus, 2001

Synopsis

The original Great Game (1800-1917), the clandestine struggle between Russia and Britain for mastery of Central Asia, has long been regarded as one of the greatest geopolitical conflicts in history. The prize, control of the vast Eurasian heartland, was believed by some to be the key to world domination. Teeming with improbable drama and exaggerated tensions, the conflict featured soldiers, mystics and spies, among them some of history's most colourful and romantic characters. While the original Great Game ended with the Russian Revolution, the geopolitical wrangles for territory and power have continued into the late twentieth century - culminating in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac's magisterial one-volume survey chronicles nearly two centuries of conflict in vivid and compelling fashion.

About this title

About the Author:

Karl E. Meyer is a former London bureau chief for the WASHINGTON POST. His wife, Shareen Blair Brysac, is a prize-winning documentary-maker for CBS News.

Review:

Entertaining, fluent and absorbing * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY * Terrific . . . Although this book is a big one, its pages race away * Nigel Jones, SUNDAY EXPRESS * A scrupulously balanced and extremely readable chronicle . . . A book about cartography, achaeology, anthropology and several other things, as well as exploration and imperial lust * Geoffrey Moorhouse, GUARDIAN * Monumental . . . A remarkable achievement * Jan Morris, OBSERVER *

About this edition

• Publisher: Abacus
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0349113661
• ISBN 13: 9780349113661
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 661