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Josiah the Great Ben Macintyre

Josiah the Great By Ben Macintyre

Josiah the Great by Ben Macintyre


£14.00
New RRP £20.00
Condition - Very Good
5 in stock

Summary

This is the story of Josiah Harlan, the American adventurer who forged his own kingdom in Afghanistan during the 19th century and subsequently became the inspiration for Kipling's 'The Man Who Would Be King.'

Josiah the Great Summary

Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man Who Would be King by Ben Macintyre

The fantastical tale of a resourceful and unscrupulous early-nineteenth-century American adventurer who forges his own kingdom in the wilds of Afghanistan. In the year 1838, a young adventurer, surrounded by his native troops and mounted on an elephant, raised the American flag on the summit of the Hindu Kush, and declared himself Prince of Ghor, the heir to Alexander the Great. Josiah Harlan, the first American to set foot in Afghanistan, would become the model for Kipling's The Man Who Would be King, but the true story of his life is stranger than fiction. A soldier, spy, doctor, naturalist and writer, Harlan set off into the wilds of Central Asia after a failed love affair in 1820. Following a brief stint as a surgeon in the East India Company's army, he joined the court of the deposed Afghan monarch Shah Shujah, and then slipped into Kabul disguised as a Muslim priest to foment rebellion. For the next two decades he would play a pivotal role in the bloody politics of the region. As commander of the Afghan army, he became the first general since Alexander the Great to lead an army across the Hindu Kush. There, in a crowning act of imperial hubris, he declared himself a prince.

Josiah the Great Reviews

Praise for A Foreign Field:'One of the books of the year' Sunday Times'A tale of immense stature. Stirring, ambitious and profound, this is storytelling at its very best' Stuart Wavell, Sunday Times'Macintyre writes beautifully; his book is at once a great romance, a war story, a social history' Susannah Herbert, Sunday Telegraph'A simple and touching tale of self-sacrificing courage and love in war...I loved it' Lyn Macdonald, The Times

About Ben Macintyre

Ben Macintyre is the author of Forgotten Fatherland, The Napoleon of Crime and A Foreign Field. He is the former parliamentary sketch-writer for The Times, and has been the paper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. He now lives in London.

Additional information

GOR001762843
9780007151066
0007151063
Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man Who Would be King by Ben Macintyre
Used - Very Good
Hardback
HarperCollins Publishers
20040517
384
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Josiah the Great