Asian Trips - Retreat from Kabul: The Catastrophic British Defeat in Afghanistan, 1842
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List Price: $16.95
www.asiantrips.info Price: $11.53
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Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.103
EAN: 9781599211770
ISBN: 1599211777
Label: The Lyons Press
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2007-11-01
Publisher: The Lyons Press
Studio: The Lyons Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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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 1842 that resulted in the deaths of 16,000 people. 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 Afgham throne a popular and colourful 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 and 12,000 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 90 harsh miles away. As officers ruched 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 the beacon.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Choppy at times, but comprehensive
Comment: Having owned and read more than a dozen books that deal with this period in time and place, I will say that MacRory's book is perhaps among the most comprehensive, and probably the most single-purposed of the lot, but it has flaws. The author jumps around quite a bit chronologically, moving backwards and forwards in time from chapter to chapter, and even within the same chapter in places. To a casual reader, this might prove confusing. Because of the prior knowledge I had, I found it disconcerting at best. In addition, I found several factual errors which didn't jive with other reporting on these events. I wasn't studious enough to take notes as I read it, but I remember saying to myself "That's not what (insert other author here) has to say about this" - and I used Hopkirk and other qualified references as my point of view. Perhaps the passage of time has brought other facts in to view.
However, overall I found the work to be quite effective at conveying the sheer stupidity of the British leadership, the lackluster attempts at organization and control undertaken by the occupying force, and the swift yet ultimately meaningless retribution. All in all, a good addition to my library, and a recommended read, if you can get past the time-shifting.
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