Dimensions
129 x 198 x 22mm
Caught between Russia and British India, Persia was a powerless pawn in the Great Game. Sykes, a bluff, tough soldier-scholar, was sent by Army Intelligence to explore its wild, unknown eastern border country and to set up a network of informants to keep an eye on Russian moves.
He bugged a Russian consulate and faced down their attempt to annex the whole of north-east Persia. In the First World War his enemy was Wassmuss, "the German Lawrence".
Sykes had a deep respect for Persia and her culture. The story of his twenty-five years there gives an insight into Persia that shows why modern Iran has such edgy relations with the outside world.
