Mavericks English 2026

'Wildly exciting' KATE ADIE
'Thoroughly gripping ... An action-packed tale' JUSTIN MAROZZI, THE TIMES
'Beautifully written' LOUIS DE BERNIERES
'Stimulating... entertaining and instructive' JULIAN EVANS, DAILY TELEGRAPH

The forgotten story of a group of British mavericks who took on an impossible mission with a daring and fearless approach.

1918. The First World War is drawing to a close and regimes are collapsing across Europe. Amid the chaos, British officials plot a daring campaign to send an unlikely band of soldiers, diplomats and spies to the volatile shores of the Caspian Sea. Their mission: stop the advancing Turks, hold back the Bolsheviks and secure the vital supply of oil from Baku.

Drawing on personal diaries, memoirs and once-secret government archives, Mavericks is a page-turning story of boldness and intrigue, set in a forgotten corner of the Great War where rules were made to be broken.