"The Great Game"

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Peter Hopkirk)

This is an easy book to figure out if you're going to like. If the prospect of an in-depth history of the "Great Game," Imperial England and Tsarist Russia's brokering for territory, market share, and prestige in Central Asia in the 19th century sounds interesting to you, I can't recommend a better book on the subject (with the caveat that this is the only book I've read about it). Likewise, if you fell asleep halfway through the last sentence, first, wake up, and second, well, I'm sure you already know not to read this book.
I think you'll be missing out, though; This is a well-written book, ably dodging the pitfalls of being too dry or too partisan (although it does tend to skew to the British point of view given the wealth of primary sources available and the dearth of Russian ones). The only complaint I have is that the ending is a little anti-climactic, but such is the peril of working with history instead of fiction.

History Nerd Grade: A-
Uninterested in History Philistine Grade: C-


** Update **


Why did I only give this a B? The grade has been adjusted. I fear that I may be trying to avoid handing out too many A grades to history books, but I feel this book does deserve better than a straight B.