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Summary
From William Dalrymple—award-winning historian, journalist and travel writer—a masterly retelling of what was perhaps the West’s greatest imperial disaster in the East, and an important parable of neocolonial ambition, folly and hubris that has striking relevance to our own time.
With access to newly discovered primary sources from archives in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and India—including a series of previously untranslated Afghan epic poems and biographies—the author gives us the most immediate and comprehensive account yet of the spectacular first battle for Afghanistan: The British invasion of the remote kingdom in 1839. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed helmets, and facing little resistance, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the mountain passes from India into Afghanistan in order to reestablish Shah Shuja ul-Mulk on the throne, and as their puppet. But after little more than two years, the Afghans rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into rebellion. This First Anglo-Afghan War ended with an entire army of what was then the most powerful military nation in the world ambushed and destroyed in snowbound mountain passes by simply equipped Afghan tribesmen. Only one British man made it through.
But Dalrymple takes us beyond the bare outline of this infamous battle, and with penetrating, balanced insight illuminates the uncanny similarities between the West’s first disastrous entanglement with Afghanistan and the situation today. He delineates the straightforward facts: Shah Shuja and President Hamid Karzai share the same tribal heritage; the Shah’s principal opponents were the Ghilzai tribe, who today make up the bulk of the Taliban’s foot soldiers; the same cities garrisoned by the British are today garrisoned by foreign troops, attacked from the same rings of hills and high passes from which the British faced attack. Dalryrmple also makes clear the byzantine complexity of Afghanistan’s age-old tribal rivalries, the stranglehold they have on the politics of the nation and the ways in which they ensnared both the British in the nineteenth century and NATO forces in the twenty-first. Informed by the author’s decades-long firsthand knowledge of Afghanistan, and superbly shaped by his hallmark gifts as a narrative historian and his singular eye for the evocation of place and culture, The Return of a King is both the definitive analysis of the First Anglo-Afghan War and a work of stunning topicality.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
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- M. R. Frost
- 06-10-15
The Great Game taken to a brilliant new level.
This is a must for anyone with an interest in the history of the British Raj. This book is very well researched, and every detail is relevant. The various plots and large cast of characters have been presented in such a way as to give the listener an easy passage throughout. My only criticism is that it is a shame that such a quintessentially episode of British history was not read by a British actor. The reader gives American pronunciations throughout, which I,
personally, found somewhat grating.
3 people found this helpful
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- ZakiGhiacy
- 25-06-20
Narrator is wrong
Excellent book and a great story nicely told. The narrator, however, is not right. He has the wrong accent and pronounces the Farsi and Pashto words completely incorrectly. Completely lets the book down. Should have had a native speaker. This guy is obviously an Arabic speaker. I am surprised the author agreed to this.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-05-20
Best book about the first Anglo-Afghan war I
Fantastic book highly recommend it. If you are interested about Anglo-Afghan wars you must read this book
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- Shumaila H.
- 18-06-19
excellent
such an engrossing listen! both written and narrated excellently. neil shahs pronunciation was on point.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-03-19
A hidden wonder
What a great book about a subject that people know so little about I can't believe that I have not read it before. I have started to wargame this period and it has given me a great insite into the period. RECOMMENDED!!!
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- Sean Wafer
- 02-06-18
Superb account of an extraordinary time & place
I am not well equipped for the writing of technical literary reviews, so I will simply say this book is mesmerising and covers a period of history I scarcely knew about, in fact I had only the vaguest idea we fought and lost a war in Afghanistan and always believed it was purely a proxy conflict we had no direct involvement in. Nothing could be further from the truth, the involvement was considerable, the policy questionable, the costs immense, the gains minimal, the legacy terrible - and the insight yielded by this book, utterly captivating. I can't recommend it highly enough
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- Brian Hopper
- 05-05-18
An epic and harrowing journey.
not for the faint hearted...harrowing, sad and disturbing. The West promise much to Afghanistan...but..just make things worse. Like Bolivar said of south America..it is ungovernable. Too many names to remember...I will likely buy the hard copy. The voice delivery was quite tedious..took me a while to get through..but overall I recommend this in either Audible or hard copy.
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-02-18
Rivetting reading, well researched and told
A brilliant book, about Afghan, British, Indian and Russian history, but as much about understanding the present, the stories and human insights are wonderfully weaved into an understanding of military and political maneuver.
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-02-16
An amazing and tragic adventure perfectly told
Would you consider the audio edition of Return of a King to be better than the print version?
Don't know - never read the print version. Dumb question!
What other book might you compare Return of a King to, and why?
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What does Neil Shah bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
His pronunciation of the many local names both brought authenticity to the experience and helped me keep track of the unfamiliar names of the many characters. His effortless and smooth style was a joy to listen to.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Neither. I knew the outline of the story, though some might cry at the pitiable details in places.
Any additional comments?
A wonderful book telling an important story that everyone should hear so humanity stops making such stupid mistakes. I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer who said the story was dull and the narrator had a New Jersey drawl - I don't know what that is but it sounded Asian to me! Definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in understanding how the world is today.
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- James
- 05-08-15
Fascinating comprehensive narrative
I was impressed by the comprehensive research and detailed account of the war in Afghanistan. In particular the parallels with the recent fighting there are both fascinating and in many ways concerning in particular how the lessons of history are never learned.
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- Robin A. Gower
- 09-07-15
Astonishingly intelligent historical analysis
If you could sum up Return of a King in three words, what would they be?
History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.
What did you like best about this story?
Dalrymple tells the story of the First Afghan War with deep understanding of Afghan motivations, politics and personalities. He is master also of the British and military situations in England and in India, and of the policies and leadership failures of the East India Company in its decline. There is heroism and treachery on all sides, and competence and honor are not always rewarded. This book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the roots of the current situations in south and central Asia. It is also a primer on political and military decision making, and it should be required reading for every Foreign Service officer and for every university student preparing for a military career.
What does Neil Shah bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The narration is fluid and first rate. Names of persons and places in Asian language that may be unfamiliar to listeners are articulated naturally. This makes it just as easy to follow the sequence of events among the Afghans as it is to follow the British. The Afghan subjects become as real and believable to the listener as the Europeans.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Beautifully and clearly written with sympathy and understanding of all the participants in an ongoing debacle. The portraits of the participants are masterful, although my favorite must be that of Lady Sale (whose Diary I once read, and now will reread with much greater enthusiasm), whose stamina, loyalty, common sense and courage would make her a hero in any age.
Any additional comments?
Return of a King is a triumph of balanced historical analysis. Dalrymple has told the story of the First Afghan War, its causes and consequences, with deep knowledge of the sources from both (or rather, all) sides. It is impossible to listen to this book and not have an enhanced understanding of the current political and military positions in Afghanistan.Did I forget to mention that the book is gracefully written, and that it reflects a real appreciation for the history, culture and arts of Islamic Asia?
7 people found this helpful
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- Jon Meyer
- 05-06-15
Engrossing
Complete, thorough and well researched it remains lively and entertaining. Shah's narration is on point and not to be missed.
5 people found this helpful
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- AAH
- 29-04-16
Another emotional saga of the British Empire
An interesting and well researched narrative of a little known country. The final chapters are very touching , as the tragedy of the British retreat unfolds.
3 people found this helpful
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- CHRISTINE
- 17-02-20
Better for reading than listening
Dalrymple is a masterful historian and compelling writer. The book is essential for anyone who wants to understand what happened when the first Colonial power tried to take over Afghanistan. Dalrymple includes Afghan sources, poetry and verbal accounts that give a glimpse of the fascinating characters and leaders who bested the British. There are so many characters and place names that I found the audio book hard to follow, and had to buy a copy of the book to read instead.
1 person found this helpful
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- Boys4me
- 09-11-18
one of the best historical books I've heard
Excellent narration of a wonderfully written book. important history and important to understand recent and even current struggles in Afghanistan.
1 person found this helpful
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- Apurva
- 07-09-18
Bad narration
Narration quality is really bad. Could not go beyond the 2 chapter. Pronunciation of Indian words is not accurate. Does not hold attention as an audio book does. Problem is with the narrator not the content. Dalrymple is a great story teller. This one is best left to reading the actual book.
1 person found this helpful
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- richard
- 01-03-15
Well written and informative read.
Well written and informative, should be mandatory reading for anyone deployed to Afghanistan.
If only it had been written prior to NATO's current campaign, they might have thought twice about getting involved in what would be interpreted as a holy war by the locals.
1 person found this helpful
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- Mister mister
- 18-04-16
Failed Authencity
Any additional comments?
While your attempt at authenticity is laudable, you failed miserably in a racist manner (all brown people apparently sound the same to you). You hired an INDIAN guy to read and pronounce names of AFGHAN people and places. That's like hiring a FRENCH guy to read an ENGLISH book. Basically, you thought you were being authentic by hiring someone of similar skin color as the the people who are the subjects of the book. The French guy cannot properly pronounce English words (you would get a lot of 'ze keess' for 'the kiss' and so on). Similarly, Hindi is SO different from Farsi and Pasho, that this just makes you guys look ignorant. His pronunciation of the Afghan names are purely Hindi, and it is pure ignorance of you to actually think that is how Afghans pronounce the names of people and places mentioned in this book. Although I do want to state that he did a great job reading it - but none of the names of places and people are pronounced the way he pronounced them.
6 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-09-16
Great narrative of the First Afghan War
Great telling of the First Afghan War. It really sheds light on the region. Dalrymple's narrative draws you along and the historical figures come to life. Like any good historical text this makes you want to go back to the source material and hear all the perspectives in full.
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- steven
- 11-06-15
Great explanation of the era
Covers the decline of a king, British Invasion, and correlates today's war with the past.