Peter Hopkirk (1930–2014)
Author of The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia
About the Author
Peter Hopkirk has traveled widely over many years in Central Asia, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and the Middle East as writer
Works by Peter Hopkirk
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia (1980) 697 copies, 9 reviews
Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet (Kodansha Globe) (1983) — Author — 534 copies, 7 reviews
Setting the East Ablaze : Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia (1984) — Author — 420 copies, 9 reviews
Hopkirk Peter 1 copy
El gran Juego 1 copy
Associated Works
Hunted through Central Asia: On the Run from Lenin's Secret Police (1993) — Introduction, some editions — 67 copies, 1 review
The Spy Who Disappeared: Diary of a Secret Mission to Russian Central Asia in 1918 (1990) — Introduction, some editions — 27 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Hopkirk, Peter
- Legal name
- Hopkirk, Peter Stuart
- Birthdate
- 1930-12-15
- Date of death
- 2014-08-22
- Gender
- male
- Education
- The Dragon School, Oxford
Marlborough College - Occupations
- journalist
author
historian - Organizations
- King's African Rifles
The Times
Daily Express
ITN
Drum
British Army - Awards and honors
- Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal (1999)
- Relationships
- Hopkirk, Kathleen (wife)
- Short biography
- Before turning full-time author, he was an ITN reporter and newscaster for two years, the New York correspondent of Lord Beaverbrook's Daily Express, and then worked for nearly twenty years on The Times; five as its chief reporter, and latterly as a Middle East and Far East specialist. In the 1950s, he edited the West African news magazine Drum, sister paper to its legendary South African namesake. Before entering Fleet Street, he served as a subaltern in the King's African Rifles – in the same battalion as Lance-Corporal Idi Amin, later to emerge as the Ugandan tyrant.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
This is a fascinating book. Hopkirk tells the story of European explorers and archaeologists in the Taklamakan Desert, a veritable sea of sand in Chinese Turkestan, at the intersection of China, India, Russia and Afghanistan. Two branches of the Old Silk Road, which once connected Xian, China to Rome, skirt the northern and southern edges of the Taklamakan through a series of oases and garrison towns known to Alexander the Great and first described for outsiders by Marco Polo. What show more adventurers found under the waves of Taklamakan sand in the first decade of the 20th c. was a lost civilization, with a distinctive Graeco-Buddhist aesthetic: statuary of exquisite inspiration and craftsmanship, colorful frescoes combining Persian, Indian and Chinese elements, and troves of sacred texts, some in unknown languages. The most valuable discovery was the bundles of manuscripts from the secret chamber at Tun-huang, in the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas (which was only one of a number of cave-temples in the region).
Removal of the artworks and manuscripts from the Taklamakan was controversial, with the Europeans defending their excavations as necessary for the preservation of previously unknown artifacts, and the Chinese charging outsiders with the theft of their cultural patrimony. One ironic consequence of the removal of artifacts abroad was the destruction of some of the most impressive frescoes during the bombing of Berlin during WWII. show less
Removal of the artworks and manuscripts from the Taklamakan was controversial, with the Europeans defending their excavations as necessary for the preservation of previously unknown artifacts, and the Chinese charging outsiders with the theft of their cultural patrimony. One ironic consequence of the removal of artifacts abroad was the destruction of some of the most impressive frescoes during the bombing of Berlin during WWII. show less
A terrific read. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in British-Russian relations and intrigues in the 19th century, providing insight into the calculations (often wrong) by both parties. Whereas the Russians act based on sheer expansionist desire, the English do so out of a combination of paranoia and economic greed. This is a century-long tale of imperialism at its height. The author must have read dozens, if not hundreds, of firsthand accounts and books by various historians. show more The writing style is lively and doesn't get bogged down with unessential digressions into concurrent policy concerns by the two adversaries. There's no holding back on the accounts of medieval cruelty by the various Khans of Persia and Afghanistan, as well as that of roaming bandits. It all reads like a boy's adventure story for adults. What is most puzzling is why both Russia and England would continue in their military assaults despite devastating disasters and loss of life. show less
The original Cold War, this is a historical account of the game played Britain and Russia from the late 18th to the early 20th century, for supremacy of Central Asia. On the British side, at stake was the security of its source of wealth, India. On the Russian side, it was ostensibly new markets for its goods, but was actually a consolidation and expansion of empire.
It is an extraordinary tale of adventure, great daring, intrigue, and warfare. Needing to secure India from the Russian threat show more by surrounding itself with friendly neighbors, with Afghan kingdoms and tribes on the west, and on the north across the mountain passes, Sikh as well as other local chiefdoms, Britain decided to adopt a low-key forward policy. Written from the point of view of the British, Hopkirk introduces us to some very interesting individuals, exemplary in their bravery (and sometimes necessarily, bravado) who took up the challenge of the unexplored territory and of the unknown. We travel with these men, and with countless of their Indian subjects, across some of the most hostile environments in the world even in the coldest of winter – the vast expanse of the steppes, the deserts, the highest and practically impassable mountain peaks, home to warring and some of the most fearsome tribes of Central Asia. They map out regions and impenetrable mountain passes, identifying pockets of areas the enemy could use in a possible invasion. They strike up relations with local chiefs, buying their loyalties with expensive gifts, gold, and money, and promises of military support against their enemies, and against Russia. With these men, we are awed by the splendor of the ancient cities of what we know today as Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iran, cities along the ancient Silk Road such as Bokhara, Samarkand, glimpses of which we still see today (unfortunately not anymore of Kabul). Many of these men would lose their lives in heroic ways, and many bloody battles fought because of treachery mostly on the part of the local tribes (we have to keep in mind though that this is a one-sided assessment, as the records are mainly from the British side) who, aware of their strategic value to either parties, were not above playing off Russia and Britain against each other with their loyalties. We are also given a picture of the directions and the lapses in the imperialist policies advocated by Britain in this region.
Hopkirk writes in a very engaging way, and much happens that are stuff of imagination so that we almost forget that this is not a work of fiction. The Great Game “officially” ended a century ago, the main players never reached an actual war although they came dangerously close a few times. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan, however, many decades later in 1979, simply went to show that those in the British imperial government at the time of the Great Game were correct in their belief that one day the Russians would come (for another reason this time, of course, but the evidence is there that they still had an interest).
An interesting, highly readable book that helps us understand a bit of the history of the region which today holds the most intractable of military and political challenges. show less
It is an extraordinary tale of adventure, great daring, intrigue, and warfare. Needing to secure India from the Russian threat show more by surrounding itself with friendly neighbors, with Afghan kingdoms and tribes on the west, and on the north across the mountain passes, Sikh as well as other local chiefdoms, Britain decided to adopt a low-key forward policy. Written from the point of view of the British, Hopkirk introduces us to some very interesting individuals, exemplary in their bravery (and sometimes necessarily, bravado) who took up the challenge of the unexplored territory and of the unknown. We travel with these men, and with countless of their Indian subjects, across some of the most hostile environments in the world even in the coldest of winter – the vast expanse of the steppes, the deserts, the highest and practically impassable mountain peaks, home to warring and some of the most fearsome tribes of Central Asia. They map out regions and impenetrable mountain passes, identifying pockets of areas the enemy could use in a possible invasion. They strike up relations with local chiefs, buying their loyalties with expensive gifts, gold, and money, and promises of military support against their enemies, and against Russia. With these men, we are awed by the splendor of the ancient cities of what we know today as Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iran, cities along the ancient Silk Road such as Bokhara, Samarkand, glimpses of which we still see today (unfortunately not anymore of Kabul). Many of these men would lose their lives in heroic ways, and many bloody battles fought because of treachery mostly on the part of the local tribes (we have to keep in mind though that this is a one-sided assessment, as the records are mainly from the British side) who, aware of their strategic value to either parties, were not above playing off Russia and Britain against each other with their loyalties. We are also given a picture of the directions and the lapses in the imperialist policies advocated by Britain in this region.
Hopkirk writes in a very engaging way, and much happens that are stuff of imagination so that we almost forget that this is not a work of fiction. The Great Game “officially” ended a century ago, the main players never reached an actual war although they came dangerously close a few times. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan, however, many decades later in 1979, simply went to show that those in the British imperial government at the time of the Great Game were correct in their belief that one day the Russians would come (for another reason this time, of course, but the evidence is there that they still had an interest).
An interesting, highly readable book that helps us understand a bit of the history of the region which today holds the most intractable of military and political challenges. show less
A short but entertaining book about the exploration of lost cities that made up the Silk Road and the race for archaeological treasures from those cities.
The Silk Road flourished for centuries as an overland path from China West to European markets. All along the Silk Road cities and civilizations came into being to service the traders with many of the cities becoming trading powers in their own rights. At the same time, the cities that developed created a unique mix of art and culture as show more Buddhist traditions and art were merged with Western ideals. This culture flourished for centuries until the diminishing importance of the silk trade and environmental changes led to the abandonment of the cities. The cities sat, barely remembered for hundreds of years, remembered vaguely by locals and in writings by the likes of Marco Polo. In the late 19th century, England, France, Russia and Japan send explorers and archaeologists to find and excavate these lost cities.
The book is part adventure story as it details the horrendous conditions that the explorers endured trying to find the cities, many lost in the midst of nearly impassible deserts. The book also details the nature of their discoveries, describing the art and languages discovered. Finally, the book discusses at length the ethics of the removal of the art and manuscripts by Western archaeologists. Hopkirk certainly makes a strong case that the these cultures should be better known and that Western museums should do a better job of showcasing the materials they have.
Call me a cultural imperialist, but I am less troubled by the removal of the art and manuscripts then Hopkirk. As a conceptual matter, I am all for keeping cultural materials in the country of origin (as inapplicable as the modern nation-state is to many ancient cultures). However, the reality is that many of the countries that "should" be protecting their cultural patrimony have failed to do so. China presents something of a special case - specifically the Cultural Revolution and China's subsequent handling of its cultural heritage - are examples of systematic, deliberate destruction of cultural assets. As Foreign Devils on the Silk Road makes clear, the treasures of Central Asia were hardly being protected by the relevant authorities at the time. In the instance of some painted caves, the caves were used to house soldiers resulting in destruction of important murals. So, on balance, I lean toward sympathizing with the archaeologists who removed the manuscripts and art that they could take. Certainly today, where China is actively preserving and protecting its cultural assets, the conduct of Western archaeologists would constitute theft. But this wasn't the case at the end of the 19th century and there is strong evidence that, but for the work of these explorers, nothing of this cultural and artistic heritage would have survived. show less
The Silk Road flourished for centuries as an overland path from China West to European markets. All along the Silk Road cities and civilizations came into being to service the traders with many of the cities becoming trading powers in their own rights. At the same time, the cities that developed created a unique mix of art and culture as show more Buddhist traditions and art were merged with Western ideals. This culture flourished for centuries until the diminishing importance of the silk trade and environmental changes led to the abandonment of the cities. The cities sat, barely remembered for hundreds of years, remembered vaguely by locals and in writings by the likes of Marco Polo. In the late 19th century, England, France, Russia and Japan send explorers and archaeologists to find and excavate these lost cities.
The book is part adventure story as it details the horrendous conditions that the explorers endured trying to find the cities, many lost in the midst of nearly impassible deserts. The book also details the nature of their discoveries, describing the art and languages discovered. Finally, the book discusses at length the ethics of the removal of the art and manuscripts by Western archaeologists. Hopkirk certainly makes a strong case that the these cultures should be better known and that Western museums should do a better job of showcasing the materials they have.
Call me a cultural imperialist, but I am less troubled by the removal of the art and manuscripts then Hopkirk. As a conceptual matter, I am all for keeping cultural materials in the country of origin (as inapplicable as the modern nation-state is to many ancient cultures). However, the reality is that many of the countries that "should" be protecting their cultural patrimony have failed to do so. China presents something of a special case - specifically the Cultural Revolution and China's subsequent handling of its cultural heritage - are examples of systematic, deliberate destruction of cultural assets. As Foreign Devils on the Silk Road makes clear, the treasures of Central Asia were hardly being protected by the relevant authorities at the time. In the instance of some painted caves, the caves were used to house soldiers resulting in destruction of important murals. So, on balance, I lean toward sympathizing with the archaeologists who removed the manuscripts and art that they could take. Certainly today, where China is actively preserving and protecting its cultural assets, the conduct of Western archaeologists would constitute theft. But this wasn't the case at the end of the 19th century and there is strong evidence that, but for the work of these explorers, nothing of this cultural and artistic heritage would have survived. show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 9
- Also by
- 10
- Members
- 4,450
- Popularity
- #5,625
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 81
- ISBNs
- 89
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 15
