The Great Game describes the 19th-century rivalry between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia for control of central Asia. Britain saw the region as an exposed flank of India; Russia felt a manifest destiny to control the continent. Rudyard Kipling popularized the expression "the Great Game" in his novel Kim.
It's an exciting adventurous story that takes place against a backdrop of exotic cultures and extreme landscapes. Khiva, Bokhara, Samirkind, Chitral; the Karakum and Taklamakan Deserts, the Pamir, Karakoram, and Himalaya Mountains. The story includes secret spy missions, daring escapades, treachery, extreme conditions, sieges, and battles. I enjoyed learning the history and the geography, both of which I was largely ignorant about.
Hopkirk's writing is very matter-of-fact. He underplays the drama of many episodes. He doesn't attempt to portray the personal character of his many heroes, which makes them hard to distinguish. Which intrepid adventurer was that? Especially in the early going, many of their deeds felt similar.
I referred regularly to the included maps. They gave a good sense of the relative positions of the cities and Khanates, but I wish they had provided better topographical detail. The dramatic landscapes played a critical role in military assessments of the risk of invasion.
It seemed to me that over the century of conflict, Britain typically relied on treaties with their "buffer states" while Russia typically occupied them "temporarily." Given the capricious nature of rulers, the Russian approach resulted in more permanent gains. There was also a persistent difference in attitude between the political and military portions of both governments.
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