[quote=Russell]Rus: Read “The Great Game” by Peter Hopkirk. It’s a very enlightening book and it shows how little has changed over the last 150+ years.

Thanks Allan, I have been reading the reviews on Amazon. It looks good. Made me wonder, Have you written any book reviews for that site? [/quote]

Rus: Nah, I’m too busy here, trying to fend off crazy leftists! =).

If you read and enjoy “The Great Game”, I’d recommend following it with Hopkirk’s “Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin’s Plan for Central Asia”. It details Soviet ambitions in Central Asia and explains how the Russians wound up in Afghanistan. It also explains Putin’s actions in Central Asia as of late.