bookshelf

THE GREAT GAME

Name: THE GREAT GAME
Author: Peter Hopkirk
ISBN: 4-77011-730-0

THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE IN CENTRAL ASIA

by Peter Hopkirk ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1992

bookshelf

What in the hands of a lesser writer could have been a collection of obscure facts, figures, and personalities is here transformed—thanks to vibrant writing and remarkable organization- -into a riveting drama of 19th-century imperialistic power- politics. Tracing the British and Russian rivalry for control of the deserts and mountain ranges that stretch from the Black Sea to the China Sea, Hopkirk, fomer Asian affairs specialist for the London Times, packs his narrative with enough death, double-dealing, and derring-do to keep a TV miniseries surging along for months. The author picks up the story at the dawn of the 1800's, after having briefly sketched in such background details as Peter the Great's purported deathbed instructions to expand the tsarist empire, and Napoleon's Egyptian campaign—both of which the English saw as threats to their hegemony in the Indian subcontinent. For more than a century, Russia and England each scored triumphs and suffered setbacks, much to the despair or delight of the rival nation. Here, the action takes place in a cloak-and-dagger atmosphere of disguised pseudotravelers gathering information about barbarous (and largely unexplored) hinterlands. Hopkirk's accounts of incursions into such exotic locales as Samarkand, Bokhara, and Lhasa are among the most exciting in his fast-paced work, with many of the adventurers he describes meeting their Maker in singularly unpleasant ways—through beheading, dismemberment, garrotting. Hopkirk maintains the suspense with assurance, and also is evenhanded in his treatment of the duplicity that marks the activities not only of the area's Muslim natives but of the Russians and English as well. Working on a sprawling canvas crammed with incidents set in council chambers and Himalayan mountain passes, and with a cast that includes Queen Victoria, tsars, trigger-happy militarists, fanatical khans, sepoys, and Sherpas, Hopkirk organizes his material with a master's touch. The result is historical writing of extraordinary power and readability. (Thirty-nine b&w photographs; five maps.)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992

ISBN: 4-77011-730-0

Page Count: 576

Publisher: Kodansha

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.