Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia

by Shareen Blair Brysac, Karl Ernest Meyer

Release Date: 25 October, 2000

Edition: Paperback

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Ambitious, but somewhat dissapointing

I bought this book looking to develop a general historical knowledge of modern Central Asia, and to develop a basic understanding of the fabled "Great Game." Unfortunately, the book feel short of my expectations.

If you are looking for a very superficial, andectodal account of the Great Game, you should buy this book. If however, your interests are those of the historian, I would reccommend reading this book only after you have read many others in the field.

While the authors' style, which focuses on the individuals that drove the events that defined the "Great Game" is not new, even for history books, they failed in the end to give the reader a clear perspective of what happened in the Game. One was often lost amidst the many names, places, and other bits of information littered almost carelessly throughout the text. The geographical refrences, especially were very confusing, even to a person who was born in Lahore, and is fairly well acquainted with the region.

Overall, the true historian should shy away from this book. Not only is it based almost entirely on anecdotes, but it is also seemingly imbalanced in its attention to the different sub-regions of Central Asia -- devoting most of the first half of the book to Afghanistan, and the neighboring lands, and then shifting its focus in the latter half almost exclusively to Tibet. This is especially confusing, given the many happenings in Afghanistan.

A book of adventure stories!

This is a most entertaining telling of the history of Central Asia, and what was called "the great game". The game was simply defined as keeping Russia out and Britain in control of the region. It is fascinating to learn the history of Afghanistan and the massive British defeat, and later the history of Tibet. Each chapter is like a short history lesson, or short story, illustrating via a principle player the actual events that lead us to the present day. The books structure reminds me of Allan Moorhead's two books on the Nile (The While Nile, The Blue Nile). Recommended to anyone who wants both a good overview of the Central Asian history of European empire that also in part reads like an adventure book.