Mavericks - Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of WW1

When Russia crashed out of the First World War following the Revolution in 1917, Britain was desperate to prevent the Germans and Turks seizing the oil-rich Russian port of Baku on the Caspian Sea. But the country had few soldiers to spare and Baku was hundreds of miles from the nearest British army.

Nick Higham’s talk tells the story of the little-known Battle of Baku, of five charismatic and unorthodox characters involved in the battle – including the man who was the model for one of Rudyard Kipling’s most popular characters, and another who went on to publish his first book at the age of 99 – and of the often-unsung heroes of the Army Service Corps, who transported this ramshackle little army and kept it supplied against almost insuperable odds.

Tickets: £12