Conservative History Journal

Tory Historian has managed to replace Peter Hopkirk's excellent The Great Game, a copy of which has gone AWOL. There it was, at one of the few remaining second-hand bookshops in Charing Cross Road, Henry Pordes Books.

Even better, this was a new edition, published by John Murray (sadly now a part of Hodder and Stoughton) in 2006, sixteen years after the original, during which time many things happened in Central Asia and a new Great Game started. Mr Hopkirk acknowledges this by a new Preface and a whole new map. TH is lost in admiration. There were five maps before and now there are six, with an extra one that depicts The Battlefield of the New Great Game. Excellent.

Equally excellent is the conclusion of the new Preface:

For the collapse of the Russian rule in Central Asia has tossed the area back into the melting pot of history. Almost anything could happen there now and only a brave or foolish man would predict its future. For this reason I have note attempted to update my original narrative beyond adding this brief foreword. Among all the uncertainties, however, one thing seems certain. For good or ill, Central Asia is back in the thick of the news once more, and likely to remain there for a long time to come. 

Eight years on, that remains true.