Full Description
It is 1875, the time of the 'Great Game', when the British and Russian Empires are vying for power in central Asia. A British officer rides for Khiva, a Russian city closed to European travellers. He is on a dangerous mission, to learn if Russia plans to invade India, the 'jewel in the crown' of the British Empire. It might be the plot of a Rudyard Kipling novel; instead it is the true story of Captain Frederick Burnaby (1842-85). Burnaby joined the British army in 1859, but in periods without active duty he crafted his own adventures. He ballooned across the English Channel, travelled in Spain and Russia, and was wounded, and eventually killed, fighting for Britain's empire. This account of his perilous journey to Khiva, published in 1876 and immediately reprinted, brought him instant fame. The book includes maps of the route he took and an appendix.
Contents
Preface; Introduction; 1. Information about Khiva; 2. Waist-belt for gold; 3. The Volga frozen; 4. Railway officials; 5. Twenty degrees below zero; 6. A hole in the ice; 7. Pins-and-needles; 8. The guardian of the forests; 9. Delayed by a snowstorm; 10. Sleigh sickness; 11. The Ural Cossacks; 12. A supply of provisions; 13. A sheepskin suit; 14. A start with the courier; 15. Nomad tribes; 16. Kashgar; 17. Break-down of the sleigh; 18. An English engineer officer at Kasala; 19. Ablutions under difficulties; 20. A priest; 21. Water route from Kasala to Petro-Alexandrovsk; 22. Camels; 23. A lazy guide; 24. The guide's retaliation; 25. Disobedience of orders; 26. The Turkoman on his donkey; 27. Villages fortified; 28. The guide's kibitka; 29. The Oozek; 30. Oogentch; 31. The messenger; 32. Breakfast in Khiva; 33. The present Khan; 34. Departure from Khiva; 35. The meet; 36. The Tarantass; 37. The district governor; 38. An inquisitive inspector; Appendices.
