Changes

*This review of ''Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia'', by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac. Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 1999. 634 pages,with index, maps and photos from [http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0006_nalle.asp Journal of the Middle East Policy Council] mentions some of the people involved. This review from [http://americanpundit.blog-city.com/tournament_of_shadows_the_great_game_and_the_race_for_empire_in_central_asia.htm American Pundit] says “The epic story is told in a series of short biographies of little-known explorers, adventurers, mystics and charlatans, Nazis, spies, diplomats, armies and officers, all inexorably drawn to the region. Some were pure scientists and geographers looking to fill in blank spots on the map and explore the long-buried cities of the fabled Silk Road. Others were chasing a spiritual awakening in Tibet or the Buddhist Eden of Shamballah. Still others, more pragmatically, saw central Asia as a buffer zone between empires or as a jumping-off point for expansion, giving rise to the science of geo-politics.

*Dramatis Personae of the History and Exploration of the Greater Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamirs, Hindu-Kush, Tibet, Afghanistan, High Tartary and Surrounding Territories, up to 1921 from [http://www.billbuxton.com/dramatis.html BillBuxton.com]