A hugely engaging tale of oil, Empire, espionage and vanity. Nick Higham tells the story of a forgotten campaign that is peppered with characters who seem to have sprung from the pages of a Boys Own Adventure. A reminder too, that history is filled with chancers and rogues and shaped by the unreliable memoirs that they leave behind

Otto English, author of FAKE HISTORY

Adventure, high jinks, violence: five eccentric British spies. A kaleidoscope of colourful lives, lived dangerously - and with style. A wildly exciting game

Kate Adie, former BBC Chief News Correspondent and bestselling author of THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Who better to send across Central Asia to secure oilfields at the height of the Russian Revolution than upper class mavericks whose early exploits had inspired Kipling? These unlikely characters wanted their exploits remembered, and in Nick Higham they have found the storyteller they deserve. He weaves a compelling story from unreliable memoirs. An account full of ripping yarns, but the author warns: 'Don't expect them all to be true'

David Loyn, former BBC International Development Correspondent and author of THE LONG WAR

An absolute gem of a book - meticulously researched, and written with brio. It tells the astonishing story of six remarkable men - the Mavericks - who truly earned that title with their derring-do and adventures amid the twists and turns of the Battle of Baku. The men's courage and ingenuity in the face of often insurmountable odds is breath-taking, as is their appetite for risk amid the geopolitical quicksands of the Caucasus during the decline and fall of empires. They met with both triumph and disaster, and treated those two imposters just the same. I'm so glad Nick Higham has shone a light on these intrepid men, and their exploits in a region whose complexities continue to preoccupy and fascinate us today

Caroline Wyatt, former BBC defence correspondent

In Mavericks, Nick Higham tells one of the strangest stories of the First World War. He has done a great job teasing fact from fiction. I found Mavericks utterly absorbing

James Barr, author of A LINE IN THE SAND

I read this beautifully written book with a smile on my face. They don't make Brits like this anymore

Louis de Bernières, critically-acclaimed author of CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN