Nick Higham

Mavericks

Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

'Wildly exciting' KATE ADIE 'Thoroughly gripping ... An action-packed tale' JUSTIN MAROZZI, THE TIMES 'Beautifully written' LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES 'Stimulating... entertaining and instructive' JULIAN EVANS, DAILY TELEGRAPH The forgotten story of a group of British mavericks who took on an impossible mission with a daring and fearless approach. As the First World War drew to a close and regimes began to collapse across Europe, British officials plotted a daring campaign to send an unlikely band of maverick soldiers, diplomats and spies to the chaotic region around the Caspian Sea. Their mission: to block the advance of the Turks, to hold back the rising Bolsheviks and prevent a Turkish-inspired jihad overwhelming India, and to secure the vital supply of oil from Baku. It was an almost impossible task, but Mavericks tells the gripping stories of the remarkable and enterprising characters at the centre of it all, who would be tested to the limit. There was Lionel Dunsterville, the inspiration for Kipling's Stalky and commander of the expedition; Ranald MacDonell, a Scottish aristocrat and diplomat who smuggled millions of roubles for the war effort; Edward Noel, a seemingly indestructible soldier who was held hostage for sixty-five days in horrific conditions; Toby Rawlinson, the younger brother of one of Britain's most senior generals and a brilliant inventor; and Reginald Teague-Jones, a spy who printed his own currency and would eventually emerge as an author at the age of ninety-nine. Drawing on personal diaries, memoirs and once-secret government archives, Mavericks brings to life a cast of eccentric heroes who survived against all odds to tell their extraordinary tales. This is a propulsive story of boldness and intrigue, set in a forgotten corner of the Great War where the rules were made to be broken.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
• Seitenzahl: 368
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. August 2026
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 198mm x 129mm
• ISBN-13: 9781526676757
• ISBN-10: 1526676753
• Artikelnr.: 76060690

Autorenporträt

Nick Higham is a writer and former journalist who spent nearly 30 years as a BBC correspondent. An accomplished television and radio performer, he is also a regular interviewer at literary festivals and is a former presenter of 'Meet the Author' on the BBC News Channel. His history of London's water, The Mercenary River, was published in 2022.

Rezensionen

In this excellent book, Nick Higham gives his leading men space to breathe. All [the Mavericks] make great copy… The rattling good tale, of course, comes to a downbeat end [in defeat]. Lively and judicious