Mission to Tashkent
Frederick Marshman Bailey (1882 - 1967)
Category
Books
Date
1946
Materials
Place of origin
England
Collection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 3116190
Summary
Frederick Marshman Bailey (1882-1967) was a British intelligence officer. He occupied various posts in the Indian Army, he was involved in the 1905 Invasion of Tibet. During the First World War, he served on the Western Front, where he was wounded three times. In 1915, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. His missions led him to many countries around the world, such as India, Persia, Turkistan, and many more. In 1918, he was sent on a mission to Tashkent in Central Asia and became one of the last protagonists of The Great Game – the fight for supremacy between the Russians and the British Empire along the Himalayas. Bailey was accused by Moscow of being a British master spy. In this work, Bailey narrates his journey from Sushtar in Persia to Tashkent, his mission to discover the intentions of the new Bolshevik government in relation to India, and his escape. In this book he tells of the perilous game of cat-and-mouse, lasting sixteen months, which he played with the Bolshevik secret police: the dreaded Cheka. At one point, using a false identity, he actually joined their ranks, who unsuspectingly sent him to Bokhara to arrest himself. When he returned to England, Bailey was received as a national hero. Numerous photographs taken by the author at the time illustrate this work, and two maps help acknowledge the journey he realised. Book gifted by: F M Bailey Book Inscription Signature: F M Bailey Book Inscription: The Rt Hon Winston Churchill, With the compliments of the Author. F M Bailey. Northrepps. 23 Oct 1946.
Bibliographic description
312p. : ill. ; 8vo. Provenance: inscribed by the author: The Rt Hon Winston Churchill, With the compliments of the Author. F M Bailey. Northrepps. 23 Oct 1946. Binding: publisher's red cloth; with dust jacket.
Makers and roles
Frederick Marshman Bailey (1882 - 1967)