Snow leopards & Cossacks can both be dangerous. But to young British officers in India in the nineteenth century there was only one thing more exciting than shooting wild game in the mountains & steppes of Central Asia, & that was spying out those uncharted lands & impeding the advance of Tsarist Russia towards the frontiers of the British Raj. When the two activities were combined
- in what was euphemistically called `shooting leave`
- adventures followed thick & fast. ” Shooting Leave” tells the thrilling story of the dashing cavalry officers who volunteered for these adventures. They were individuals of talent & courage, but also of disturbing prejudice, aristocratic arrogance, missionary zeal or trigger-happy temperament. But whatever their specific task, one factor remained common to all officers sent out on covert & exploratory missions: they were expendable. Here they are brought to life as characters in their own right, as well as players in the Great Game.