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graculus's review against another edition
4.0
I'd read a bunch of Peter Hopkirk's other books and enjoyed them immensely, but for some reason I'd never got round to reading this one, I have no idea why not!
The basic premise of 'Setting the East Ablaze' is that it's the story of how the newly-formed Bolshevik government of Russia hoped to expand into the former Tsarist-held countries of central Asia but also intended them as stepping stones to further conquest. In particular, the conquest of India, then a substantial part of the British Empire and temptingly close to Russian-held territory.
Having travelled this year to Uzbekistan, it was also entertaining to see the storyline set in places I'd been, back when it was significantly less civilised than it is now. Following on from a number of Hopkirk's other books about 'the Great Game' and the countries of Central Asia, 'Setting the East Ablaze' again reads like a well-written novel.
If anyone's interested in other books by this writer, I can particularly recommend 'Foreign Devils on the Silk Road' (about 1920's and 30's archaeology in Central Asia, which I'd now very much like to read again) and 'The Great Game' (about the rivalry between England and Russia, as played out between their respective espionage networks in India and Afghanistan).
The basic premise of 'Setting the East Ablaze' is that it's the story of how the newly-formed Bolshevik government of Russia hoped to expand into the former Tsarist-held countries of central Asia but also intended them as stepping stones to further conquest. In particular, the conquest of India, then a substantial part of the British Empire and temptingly close to Russian-held territory.
Having travelled this year to Uzbekistan, it was also entertaining to see the storyline set in places I'd been, back when it was significantly less civilised than it is now. Following on from a number of Hopkirk's other books about 'the Great Game' and the countries of Central Asia, 'Setting the East Ablaze' again reads like a well-written novel.
If anyone's interested in other books by this writer, I can particularly recommend 'Foreign Devils on the Silk Road' (about 1920's and 30's archaeology in Central Asia, which I'd now very much like to read again) and 'The Great Game' (about the rivalry between England and Russia, as played out between their respective espionage networks in India and Afghanistan).