Search Results
7/12/2025, 1:24:03 AM
>>24539912
The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner
>A mixture of biography and investigation, this book looks at the life of one of the most colorful and obscure of the west's central asian adventurers, and tries to verify the accuracy of his lurid tales of swashbuckling and marrying afghan nobility. Gardner appears in the verifiable historical record already an old man, and a general of a Sikh army, but is the decade he spent wandering amongst the uzbeks real? Even his age- was he in his 80s, or his 90s? The details of his stories verify just enough to suggest he may truly have visited the places he said, which alone would make him unique among westerner in his time.
>Keay generally writes (excellent) histories that sweep across centuries, and clearly has a lot of fun with the change of pace of studying the life of one remarkable man. Keay's excellent knowledge of the area and talent for the wider picture make him a great choice for the biographer, as someone less expert in the field would get bamboozled by all the claims and succumb to the temptation to either reject everything the mad old scot says or uncritically accept it for a breathless victorian pulp story
The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner
>A mixture of biography and investigation, this book looks at the life of one of the most colorful and obscure of the west's central asian adventurers, and tries to verify the accuracy of his lurid tales of swashbuckling and marrying afghan nobility. Gardner appears in the verifiable historical record already an old man, and a general of a Sikh army, but is the decade he spent wandering amongst the uzbeks real? Even his age- was he in his 80s, or his 90s? The details of his stories verify just enough to suggest he may truly have visited the places he said, which alone would make him unique among westerner in his time.
>Keay generally writes (excellent) histories that sweep across centuries, and clearly has a lot of fun with the change of pace of studying the life of one remarkable man. Keay's excellent knowledge of the area and talent for the wider picture make him a great choice for the biographer, as someone less expert in the field would get bamboozled by all the claims and succumb to the temptation to either reject everything the mad old scot says or uncritically accept it for a breathless victorian pulp story
Page 1