 First edition cover | |
| Author | William Dalrymple |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Travel writing/religion |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Publication date | 2013 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover,) |
| ISBN | 978-1408818305 |
| Preceded by | Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India |
Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, written by the Scottish historian William Dalrymple and published in 2013, is an account of the First Anglo-Afghan War from 1839 to 1842.[1][2]
Return of a King is an account of the First Anglo-Afghan War, which was fought between the East India Company and Afghanistan. The conflict resulted in the near complete destruction of an entire British army, with 4,500 British and Indian soldiers, plus 12,000 of their camp followers dying during a disastrous retreat.[3] It was the first major conflict of The Great Game, a 19th-century competition for power and influence in Asia between the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire.[4]
During the making of the book, Dalrymple went to Kabul to make use of Afghanistan's national archives, local secondhand booksellers and remnants of private libraries abandoned by aristocratic owners. This allowed him access to epic poems composed right after the First Anglo-Afghan War. He used these sources to reconstruct insider accounts of Afghan leaders that are not generally known to British audiences.[5]
The book on publication has received very positive reviews. Jason Burke's review in The Observer mentions, "Return of a King is perhaps the most directly relevant to the present day. The author spent time in both Afghanistan and Pakistan during its research and elaborates on the obvious parallels with the current situation,"[6] Barnaby Rogerson in The Independent says "Return of a King is not just an animated and highly literate retelling of a chapter of early 19th-century British military history, but also a determined attempt to reach out and influence the politicians and policy-makers of our modern world. The parallels between the disastrous British occupation of Afghanistan in 1839, and the post 9/11 occupation of Afghanistan by the US and some of its NATO allies, are so insistent that they begin to sound like the chorus of a Greek tragedy."[7]
Pakistani-British historian Farrukh Husain, writing in the Frontier Post, criticizes the book for having an orientalist perspective and for not properly sourcing its claims.[8] However Rupert Edis in the Sunday Telegraph said "As well as going deep into dangerous parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan to research his book, Dalrymple has recovered some remarkable new Afghan and Indian sources. We see beyond the stereotypes of treacherous Afghan 'fanatics' to the complex and remarkable individuals some of them were. Like Dalrymple's heartbreaking, extraordinary White Mughals, this book is as taut and richly embroidered as a great novel . . . A masterpiece of nuanced writing and research, and a thrilling account of a watershed Victorian conflict."[9] Max Hastings in the Sunday Times described the book as "Dazzling... Dalrymple is a master storyteller, whose special gift lies in the use of indigenous sources, so often neglected by imperial chroniclers... Almost every page of Dalrymple’s splendid narrative echoes with latter-day reverberations."[10] Cole Wehrle, designer of Pax Pamir, mentioned its "gripping narrative style and incredible archival range".[11]
The book won the 2015 Hemingway Prize'.[12] It also won 2015 Kapuściński Prize,[13][14] was a finalist for the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize,[15] the Duff Cooper and the Hessell-Tiltman Prize.[16]