Combine intelligence activity to understand the routes a Russian invasion might take, with developing client states friendly to Great Briton. Da un lato ne ammiro la coerenza, sempre preciso, documentato, sempre saldo nel suo intento di non inventare nulla, eppure Hopkirk proprio a causa di questi suoi buoni propositi si rende in alcuni passaggi comicamente sbrigativo o goffamente approssimativo.

Questo è un commento che non avevo intenzione di scrivere e che voi molto probabilmente non avreste mai voluto leggere, ma poi l'ottima Malacorda ha pensato bene di citarmi nella sua recensione del Grande Gioco, ed il sottoscritto si è sentito perciò in dovere di dare corpo a quel suo pensiero riportato altrove; per cui eccoci qua. All’epoca il confine tra l’esplorazione scientifica e topografica e la raccolta di informazioni utili sul piano militare era spesso molto tenue, per cui questi eccentrici individui solitari o con scorta esigua, travestiti da esploratori, mercanti, ricercatori si presentavano, dopo viaggi della durata di mesi, alla corte dei signori locali con alterna fortuna, barattando merci e conoscenze e potendone uscire coperti d’oro e di onori, oppure scaraventati in celle o addirittura giustiziati! As with all of Hopkirk's books, I learned a lot about not only historical events of which I had little prior knowledge, but also how they linked together. I'd heard of Chitral before, but had no idea what exactly it was or how it played into the overall Great Game picture/chronology. And I had also never realized that the Russo-Japanese War was happening just as Frank Younghusband was rolling into Lhasa, and how Russia's loss there played a part in turning England's mood against the Tibetan "mission," since it helped point out that the greater future threat to Britain came not from Moscow, but from Germany; and when THAT fight began, they were going to need Russia as an ally, not an enemy. (And for that story, see Hopkirk's next book, Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire.) 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. Covering a time period right from the 16th Century, when the Russians slowly started expanding eastwards and came in conflict first with the Central Asian Khanates, then with the British Raj in the 19th Century, the book finishes with the Great Game's own end in the beginning of the 20th Century when Japan beat the Russian Empire. Hopkirk does a decent job of covering such a massive time span without getting too technical and boring his readers.

Customer Reviews

Hopkirk describes this struggle from its nascence in Alexander I's triumph over Napoleon to the decline of Russia after the Russo-Japanese War. While Russia was intent on expanding its empire into Central Asia, Britain was trying very hard to keep India British, so they were on full-alert to any Russian incursions into Central Asia. And they were keeping a third-eye-out for any kingdoms they could snatch up with promises of Victorian infrastructural progress. (You'll enjoy visualizing manifestations of Victorian progress (the steam train, the telegraph perhaps, the Enfield Gun), when you're reading of the fate of Arthur Conolly- repeatedly, peripatetically successful in all exploration and espionage sorties, a BIG PLAYA in the Game- when he wears out the welcome of the Emir of Bukhara. (or was it Queen Victoria who wore out his welcome??) Annotando cosa accade alle virilissime truppe russe nei guai solitamente compare "morte", così come "soccorse" nelle stesse condizioni si applica alle vicende delle "effeminate" truppe inglesi, così spesso definiti dai barbari locali. Ogni capitolo contiene avventure che fanno sembrare il Signore degli Anelli un libro noiosissimo, intrighi da "i Misteri dei Gonzaga", tradimenti e torture da "Conte di Montecristo", e che se sviluppate sarebbero tranquillamente una scaletta per un buon romanzo anche oggi, romanzo che non si scrive preferendosi sfraganare i cabbasisi nostri colla solita menata familiare, da Roccasecca al Wisconsin. The reason I gave it three, not four stars (I almost never give five, 'cause I'm difficult to please), is that I read William Dalrymple's Return of a King just days before The Great Game. There is a big chunk of events where these two books overlap and compared to Dalrymple's balanced approach, Hopkirk emerges too Brit-centric for my taste. This is probably partly due to objective problems with access to Russian sources at the time of writing, but surely the Tsarist players could have been covered in more detail. And while Hopkirk mostly avoids hard-core stereotyping, for some reason the Russians are always lurking in the steppes or skulking in the mountains, while the Brits are, of course, gallantly exploring. When the Afghans slaughter someone, it's because of their savage nature; when the Brits do the same, it's a regrettable consequence of difficult circumstances or simply "not entirely clear". Like Homer with his "rosy-fingered dawn", Hopkirk seems unable to mention the word "steppe" without calling it lawless.

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. It is a wonderful account and, already addicted to Peter Hopkirk’s tellings, I was completely captivated by a part of history I knew nothing of. This is to be sure a rather blood-soaked tale, with grim betrayals, frequent beheadings but also uncommon bravery. Hopkirk contends that while the British may have had their Achilles' heel in India, the Russians had theirs in the Caucasus where the local Muslim tribes were still holding out fiercely against the might of the Czar.

And not just Central Asia; it's important to remember that at this same time, England was continuing its less-than-benign empire building in India and Africa, as well as its unconscionable abuse of my ancestors in Ireland. Seicento pagine di avventura. Missioni terrificanti, massacri da vendicare, piste innevate, cannoni trascinati a quattromila metri, deserti e fortezze di creta, Russi, Cinesi, Inglesi e loro alleati si incontrano e scontrano per contendersi terre che allora erano ignote ai contendenti stessi. Con una prosa ispirata ed un racconto avvincente, in questo volume Peter Hopkirk ci accompagna nelle ignote lande orientali a rivivere l'ormai leggendario Grande Gioco, la guerra di spie che vide contrapporsi per oltre un secolo i due più potenti imperi dell'epoca, quello russo contro quello britannico. First thoughts: Am halfway through listening to this (i.e., about 8 hours in), but as excellent as the whole thing is, am going to take a little break. Like a good action movie, there is a lot of exciting plot offset with the occasional big "set piece," which at this point is the First Anglo-Afghan War which ended in the disastrous 1842 Retreat from Kabul...and I am frankly exhausted. Time for something a little lighter, before I get into Part II... China’s Upscaling of Potato Production Sprouts Controversy : The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture start... by Karlis Rokpelnis

Di diritto nello scaffale (virtuale) della Storia, questo corposo saggio di scuola inglese ci trasporta in un territorio pressoché inedito per le nostre conoscenze, scolastiche e non, in un “Grande Gioco” che è la metafora dell’interminabile lotta per la supremazia in Asia Centrale nei secoli XVIII e XIX fino alle soglie della rivoluzione bolscevica. The story encompasses places that I was fortunate enough to visit some years after that first youthful trip, such as the marvellous cities of the Silk Road. It begins with Prince Alexander Bekovich, sent by Peter the Great in 1717 to propose an alliance with the Khan of the glorious, pink-walled city of Khiva. The Khan however had other ideas. Many years later my Khivan guide Ali gleefully showed me the place on the Great Gate where Bekovich’s head had been hung. Un esempio. Questa mappa, dove il Pamir sono pochi tratteggi malposti, prima di dire che fa schifo, sappiate che è desunta dal rapporto di uno dei personaggi, un inglese. Se l'è fatto a piedi. Non il Pamir, ANCHE il Pamir. Prima di lui non c'era nulla. The period covered begins in the early 19th century with the Russian Czar seeming to match wits & extensive treasury outflows with the British King and ends (roughly speaking) a century or so later with the realignment of Europe & Asia, the fall of the Czar, the death of the Ottoman Empire and the lessening of British imperial power during the time between the two World Wars.

This is a great book and I fully agree with the quote on the front cover of the book by Jan Morris "Peter Hopkirk is truly the laureate of the Great Game." If you ever wanted to learn something about this large and remote area then this is the book to start with. If you enjoy military history then this book has it, if you enjoy historical accounts of exploration then this book has it, if you just enjoy good history then this book has it all.