A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia (Cambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor) - Hardcover

Fred-burnaby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0853141339 ISBN 13: 9780853141334

Publisher: C Knight, 1972

Synopsis

In the winter of 1875, a young British officer set out across central Asia on an unofficial mission to investigate the latest secret Russian moves in the Great Game. His goal was the mysterious caravan city of Khiva, closed to all European travelers by the Russians following their seizure ofit two years earlier. His aim was to discover whether, as many British strategists feared, this remote and dangerous oasis was about to be used as a springboard for an invasion of India.Captain Frederick Burnaby was already something of a legend. For a start he was reputed to be the strongest man in the British Army, standing six-foot-four and weighting over 200 pounds. He also spoke no fewer than seven languages, including Russian and Turkish, and possessed a most vigorous andcolorful prose style.Unknown to his superiors, who would have forbidden the venture, he rode for over a thousand miles across steppe and desert, struggling through blizzards and snowdrifts, to reach forbidden Khiva. Burnaby was ordered home by an alarmed government and there he immediately sat down and wrote thisbest-selling account of his adventures.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In the winter of 1875, a young British officer set out across Central Asia on a strictly unofficial mission to investigate the latest secret Russian moves in the Great Game. His goal was the mysterious caravan city of Khiva, closed to all European travellers by the Russians following their seizure of it two years earlier. His aim was to discover whether, as many British strategists feared, this remote and dangerous oasis was about to be used as a springboard for an invasion of India. Unknown to his superiors, who would have forbidden the venture, Captain Frederick Gustavus Burnaby rode for over a thousand miles across steppe and desert, struggling through blizzards and snowdrifts, to reach forbidden Khiva. Ordered home by an alarmed government, Burnaby immediately sat down and wrote this best-selling account of his adventures, which was to become a Great Game classic, the first of two he was to publish.

About the Author

About the Authors:
Author of On Horseback Through Asia Minor, and founder of the Vanity Fair journal, Frederick Burnaby did a great deal of active service in the British army and was killed in action in 1885. Peter Hopkirk is a highly acclaimed travel writer and best-selling author of The Great Game.

Edition details

• Publisher: C Knight
• Publication date: 1972
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0853141339
• ISBN 13: 9780853141334
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160