GENTLEMAN SPIES IN ASIA

This article covers the gathering of intelligence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Asia, particularly in Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Inevitably, the Great Game and concerns about Russian intentions loomed large. Initially most information was gathered informally, by travellers, by officers on leave, by civilians, by explorers. And although over time there was a gradual move towards greater professionalism, official resources for information-gathering were very limited until the outbreak of the Great War. The article ends with details of the exploits of men such as William Childs, Norman Bray, Reginald Teague-Jones and Ely Sloane.