Using research from contemporary letters, dispatches, and journals,
Patrick MacRory provides a compelling and gripping account of what
became known as the First Afghan War, the culmination of which was
the catastrophic British flight from Kabul in January of 1842,
which resulted in the deaths of 16,000 people. Only a single man
survived.
The war was Britain's folly: At the height of its power in
India, Britain sought to create stability in the Subcontinent --
and prevent Russian and Persian encroachments -- by removing from
the Afghan throne a colorful and popular leader and replacing him
with the unpopular though legitimate king.
The experiment ended with the British Resident in Kabul
butchered by an angry mob, a British envoy shot by an Afghan leader
during a discussion -- his dismembered corpse hung in the Kabul
bazaar -- and the ill-fated retreat.
Seven days after Britain's Army of the Indus -- consisting of
four thousand English and Indian troops, as well as twelve thousand
followers, including a number of British wives and children -- left
the gates of Kabul, a solitary horseman, bruised and bleeding, made
his way slowly to the safety of the British garrison ninety harsh
miles away. As officers rushed to bring him inside, orders were
given to light a signal fire to guide others to safety. But there
was no one else to view to beacon.
"Retreat from Kabul" is the absorbing and gruesome story of how
the world's greatest military power learned a bloody and previously
unimagined lesson by underestimating the Afghans' iron resistance
to foreign invasion and intrigue. It is a tale of heroism in the
face of unspeakable brutality, of diplomatic folly, of great
sacrifice, andterrible tragedy. It is an entrancing look, well-told
and deeply researched, at what happens when cultures collide -- a
cautionary tale of the results of trying to control by force a
country whose people deeply resent the foreign invader.
General
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