The editorial wake up iron has published in our language the book «The return of a king: the British adventure in Afghanistan 1839-1842″ the narration of a very interesting epic in which twenty thousand soldiers of the British Empire entered the Asian country to re-establish on the throne the Shah Shuja al-Mulk. Anyone who is passionate about the 19th century and the intrinsic adventures of colonialism should follow this review with interest, as it will not leave them indifferent.
Data sheet
What we think in Archives of History
As for its physical appearance, we find the well-known layout of the Desperta Ferro publishing house, with very good qualities and a very descriptive cover, since it is about «The last defense of the 44th regiment in the battle of Gandamack», the great failure of the British army in Afghanistan, where they were practically destroyed. On the back we find quotes, the awards it has won and a brief synopsis. Inside there are thirty-two pages in color and with different drawings and engravings of the time, as well as portraits of the protagonists of the story. It also has a bibliography -with some unpublished doctoral theses- and a dramatis personae in case we get lost between so many characters.
It is curious how things can repeat themselves over and over again in history and that world politics continues to repeatedly fall into the same mistakes that politicians of the past stumbled into. This is the story of the Great Game, the Cold War of the 19th century in which the powers fought over Asia and, as usual, huge castles were built over impossible dangers.
For the British, this danger was Russia with dark intentions over Afghanistan that would endanger even the jewel in the crown: India. We see how in this case, history would repeat itself throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, perhaps with very different enemies, but with an identical backdrop. Everyone who has entered Afghanistan seems to be condemned to be shamefully defeated and it was not going to be less in the first Anglo-Afghan war, where the attempt to replace Shah Shuja on the throne was going to be the perfect excuse to dominate the remains of an empire that had grown in the eighteenth century to plunge into the abyss in the nineteenth century.
This is a colonial story in which unforgettable figures intersect, large doses of romanticism, adventure and intrigue. In the book we can see the great impact that a globalization was having that was beginning to be drawn as something evident. So much so that we can find Americans training Shah Shuja’s troops or French officers from the Napoleonic Wars training those of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
A perfect example of this is Iván Vitkevitch, an exciting and taciturn character who went from being a young Pole with pro-independence intentions to becoming one of the key figures in Russian intelligence in the Middle East. His counterparts are just as great, with a highly intelligent Alexander Burnes or a Charles Masson with a gripping story that would well deserve a book of its own. he would look like a Rare avis say that we are talking about a defecting soldier who became an archaeologist and discovered Wagram while serving as a spy. However, characters as interesting as this populate the entire book.
So do we recommend it?
Brilliant would be to fall short for the narration of one of the most interesting works that have been published in Spanish this year. Both for experts in History and for people who just want to hang out, “The Return of a King” is a perfect book, since it is not heavy at any time and faithfully adheres to the events that occurred in the experience of the Anglo-Afghan war, is a «must have» in full rule for every lover of History and the one who subscribes these words has enjoyed it from the first to the last page.