We are in the 1830s and the Great Game, the elegant but deadly dance between Great Britain and Russia for power and influence in Asia, is under way. Alexander Burnes, a bright young thing with a taste for adventure, flies the flag for London, having bidden a sad farewell to his love, Bella Garraway. From St Petersburg comes the equally enigmatic Vitkevich. Both men are wooing the Amir Dost Mohammed, emperor of the Afghans, on their countries' behalf...The cast of characters is extensive, the grandiloquence of empire wonderfully evoked; The Mulberry Empire will be read with pleasure for years to come.