Using Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim’s early-20th-century journey into the wilds of central Asia as his template, Canadian author Eric Enno Tamm embarks on a multifaceted exploration of the Great Game as it was played then and as it is being played today. Statesman, ethnographer, and Russian spy, Mannerheim is a fascinating character, but Tamm’s most gripping conclusions have to do with China’s commercial and territorial ambitions, which have not changed much despite the country’s transformation from imperial power to industrial giant.
