Nick Higham: Mavericks: Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One - Part of Autumn Derby Book Festival

Description

The forgotten story of a group of British mavericks who took on an impossible mission with a daring and fearless approach.

As the First World War drew to a close and regimes began to collapse across Europe, British officials plotted a daring campaign to send an unlikely band of maverick soldiers, diplomats and spies to the chaotic region around the Caspian Sea. Their mission: to block the advance of the Turks, to hold back the rising Bolsheviks and prevent a Turkish-inspired jihad overwhelming India – and to secure the vital supply of oil from Baku.

Mavericks tells the gripping stories of the remarkable and enterprising characters at the centre of it all, including Lionel Dunsterville, the inspiration for Kipling’s Stalky and commander of the expedition.

Purchase a Derby Book Festival Pass to attend this event and eleven others at QUAD at a significant discount.