Mission To Tashkent

This is one of those books that I didn't enjoy as much as expected - and was therefore taken by surprise. Set in Central Asia in 1918-1920, mostly in Uzbekistan, but also Turkmenistan and Iran as a part of his departure route.There are a number of possible reasons I didn't enjoy this.There was a lot about the time, the politics and the peoples that I am not familiar with. The first world war was in progress, Bailey was isolated in Tashkent, and playing a game of cat and mouse with a confusing array of people, secret agents, double agents, corruptible people, and opportunists. In my defence, I believe this book was written assuming a level of understanding of the situation that I didn't possess. By a quarter of the way through I was thinking I should have read Hopkirks [b:The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia 903335 The Great Game On Secret Service in High Asia Peter Hopkirk https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344606854l/903335.SX50.jpg 133307], which might have explained the situation better for me. Of course there was the newly established Bolshevik government, Germans, Serbians, Austrians, Turks, Chinese, Persians, Indians, as well as the British Empire and the Afghani's, so a lot going on.The other reason may be the writing style. There is no getting around the fact it is presented in a very dry way. For such an exciting and risky few years, the narrative is remarkably flat. There are also many, many characters who are mentioned only to disappear, returning much later. I found I didn't pick up very well what their involvement was.Hopkirk himself gives the book high praise, writing an introduction and an epilogue, which did more to explain things that the rest of the book. I know also that other reviewers have questioned the authenticity of the story, but although very much against the odds, and not without a heavy dose of luck that many of his companions didn't have, it was hard to suggest there was an alternative story from reading this book.On a positive note, my copy is a Folio Society edition, with a great cover and some excellent photographs. Personally I would have benefited from more maps, there were two small sketched maps which didn't plot any routes.I can't really go above 3 stars, given how hard I had to battle to keep picking up this book.