On Secret Service East of Constantinople
The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire
Published on 27. March 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
448 pages
978-0-7195-6451-2 (ISBN)
Description
Under the banner of a Holy War, masterminded in Berlin and unleashed from Constantinople, the Germans and the Turks set out in 1914 to foment violent revolutionary uprisings against the British in India and the Russians in Central Asia. It was a new and more sinister version of the old Great Game, with world domination as its ultimate aim. Here, told in epic detail and for the first time, is the true story behind John Buchan's classic wartime thriller Greenmantle, recounted through the adventures and misadventures of the secret agents and others who took part in it. It is an ominously topical tale today in view of the continuing turmoil in this volatile region where the Great Game has never really ceased.
Reviews / Votes
'Recreates with much verve and brilliance, the clandestine attempts by Britain's imperial rivals to subvert the British Empire in India' * Guardian * 'Tells with great fluency, authority and narrative skill . . . a story which no single book has told before' * Sunday Telegraph *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
8 pp b/w
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
314 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7195-6451-2 (9780719564512)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2011
John Murray Learning
€8.49
Available for download
Person
Peter Hopkirk travelled widely in the regions where his six books are set: Central Asia, the Caucasus, China, Russia, India and Pakistan, Iran, and Eastern Turkey. He worked as an ITN reporter, the New York correspondent of the old Daily Express, and - for twenty years - on The Times. No stranger to misadventure, he was twice held in secret police cells and has was also hijacked by Arab terrorists. His works have been translated into many languages. All six of his books are available from John Murray: THE GREAT GAME, ON SECRET SERVICE EAST OF CONSTANTINOPLE, SETTING THE EAST ABLAZE, TRESPASSERS ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, FOREIGN DEVILS ON THE SILK ROAD and QUEST FOR KIM.