"Percy Sykes was sent to Persia by Army Intelligence in the 1890s, first as an explorer and spy, then to open consulates along Persia's eastern borders. His job was to deter Russian expansion towards India. Unpaid, he rode through thousands of miles of the harshest desert, marsh and mountain, often with his indomitable sister, who kept house for him until he married." "When consul at Meshed during a very turbulent time, he bugged the Russian consulate and, armed only with diplomacy, single-handedly faced down a Russian attempt to annex north-east Persia." "During the First World War the Greenmantle figure Wassmuss - 'the German Lawrence' - incited the southern tribes of Persia against the British. Sykes, who knew everyone who mattered in Persia, was sent out to raise a regiment of local villagers to keep Persian oil safe for the Royal Navy."--Jacket.