Mission to Tashkent

Lieutenant-Colonel F. M. Bailey CIE

First published by Jonathan Cape in 1946. This edition published by The Folio Society, London, 1999 

Bailey's account of his adventures in Central Asia rivals any dreamed up by Ian Fleming for Agent 007. But this British intelligence officer became a legend in real-life espionage, with all the flair and talent of a Bond, James Bond. Bailey was well-travelled in Tibet and China, spoke Tibetan, could ride and shoot, collected botany samples, explored unmapped regions, and became a master at the Great Game. His accounts are worth a read, with a cup of tea or a martini, shaken not stirred.

Printed on Balmoral Wove paper at Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome, and bound by them in quarter cloth, with paper sides printed with a facsimile of the author's false passport as Joseph Kastamuni. Gilded lettering on the spine. Near Fine condition, with a plain burgundy slipcase with very minor scuffing, (24.5cm x  17cm), xi-xvii, 269pp.

 For sale by Priory Books, Warwickshire County Record Office's secondhand bookshop