Percy Sykes was sent to Persia by British Army Intelligence in the 1890s, first as an explorer and spy, then to open consulates along Persia’s eastern borders. His job was to deter Russian expansion towards India. Unpaid, he rode through thousands of miles of the harshest desert, marsh, and mountain. During World War I, Wassmuss, “the German Lawrence,” incited the southern tribes of Persia against the British. Sykes, who knew everyone that mattered in Persia, was sent out to raise a regiment of villagers to keep Persian oil safe for the Royal Navy. Persia in the Great Game is an engagingly written, superbly researched biography of an astonishing character who hunted gazelle with princes, read Persian poetry, sat at the feet of dervish masters, and got to the heart of a country.