Journey to Khiva: A Writer's Search for Central Asia

Intrigued by the travel writings of 19th-century British spies who were engaged in supplying information and wielding influence for the Crown in its ``cold war'' with Russia for control of the Central Asian approaches to India, Glazebrook--an English novelist and travel writer himself ( Journey to Kars )--headed in 1990 for the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bokhara and Kiva. His previous joyless experience on a solo jaunt to the Caucasus taught him to avoid organized tours; instead, Glazebrook hired an interpreter and factotum to ease his way. His account of the journey is weighted with references to the region's history and politics, as well as with observations on his predecessors. Most of the time, he is glum and critical of people and places, which never seem to meet his expectations. Like the 19th-century models who fascinated him, Glazebrook comes through as a prototypical Briton of an earlier vintage, but he also offers a needed view of fabled places in the Soviet empire just before it came apart. (Jan.)