Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan

The Battle for Afghanistan

Hardcover, 567 pages

English language

Published Dec. 24, 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

ISBN:
978-1-4088-1830-5
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OCLC Number:
813859828

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A towering history of the first Afghan War by bestselling historian William Dalrymple In the spring of 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed shakos, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established on the throne Shah Shuja ul-Mulk. On the way in, the British faced little resistance.

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Review of 'Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan' on 'Goodreads'

A swell history (I'm planning to engineer a comeback of the adjective swell) of the Great Game and the catastrophic British war in Afghanistan. Seems to have many parallels to our current misadventure there. Includes some newly translated Afghan poetry that deepens our comprehension of the story and the way it is thought of in Afghanistan today. One of the many pleasures of reading history is the reader's knowledge of the approaching catastrophe. I find it quite similar to watching a horror movie and the principle character decides to go back to get the cat. The audience screams for her not to be such an idiot or covers their eyes and sinks lower in their seat. This story is like that.
For some reason I associate this story with the poem and movie Gunga Din, but this might be erroneous.

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