[books 2015] Return of a King
35. Return of a King by William Dalrymple
Masterful yet eminently readable account of the First Afghan War. Dalrymple uses a plethora of previously unplundered sources, some of which were even written in English but are resting in places too inaccessible for the average English-language historian, apparently. Additionally there are a lot of Indian and Afghan sources, some of which he even went to Kabul to unearth.
He touches on the parallels between the first and present Afghan wars, but doesn't draw the comparisons out unnecessarily.
He makes clear that it would probably have been possible to create a friendly Afghan(ish - the borders only became clear later) state to the British without installing a puppet king, and there were people trying to do that, but those who knew less in London and Calcutta weren't having it. He shows the bad decisions made all along, but also that there were people who were knowledgeable and doing their best and if anyone had listened to them at any point it would have been less of a disaster.
The story that only one British officer survived from that invasion force is also a myth. However, the sepoy forces were tragically and cruelly abandoned to their fate when the English captives were rescued. (Again, there were officers who tried to save them). It is not a coincidence that the 1857 rebellion started in the units that had been subject to this abandonment.
Excuse my lack of articulateness tonight. This is a bloody good book that explains a lot.
Masterful yet eminently readable account of the First Afghan War. Dalrymple uses a plethora of previously unplundered sources, some of which were even written in English but are resting in places too inaccessible for the average English-language historian, apparently. Additionally there are a lot of Indian and Afghan sources, some of which he even went to Kabul to unearth.
He touches on the parallels between the first and present Afghan wars, but doesn't draw the comparisons out unnecessarily.
He makes clear that it would probably have been possible to create a friendly Afghan(ish - the borders only became clear later) state to the British without installing a puppet king, and there were people trying to do that, but those who knew less in London and Calcutta weren't having it. He shows the bad decisions made all along, but also that there were people who were knowledgeable and doing their best and if anyone had listened to them at any point it would have been less of a disaster.
The story that only one British officer survived from that invasion force is also a myth. However, the sepoy forces were tragically and cruelly abandoned to their fate when the English captives were rescued. (Again, there were officers who tried to save them). It is not a coincidence that the 1857 rebellion started in the units that had been subject to this abandonment.
Excuse my lack of articulateness tonight. This is a bloody good book that explains a lot.