Quote:In 1820, a young adventurer journeyed into the wilds of Central Asia. A soldier, spy, doctor, naturalist and writer, Josiah Harlan soon joined the court of deposed Afghan monarch - Shah Shujah.
Harlan was the first American to set foot in Afghanistan. Slipping into Kabul in disguise, he became commander of the Afghan army, and the first general since Alexander the Great to lead troops across the Hindu Kush. High on o mountaintop, surrounded by his soldiers and fo the sound of cannon fire, Harlan declared himself an Afghan prince. One year later, he was deposed by the invading British. Using a huge range of sources, including Harlan's lost journals, Ben Macintyre brilliantly evokes the unbelievable life of Josiah the Great, the man who would be king.
'A wonderfully compelling story ... immediate and engrossing' ~ Sunday Telegraph
'Ben Macintyre has found a wholly original angle on [the first Afghan war] ... A riveting book' ~ Spectator
'As compelling as it is humorous, thoughtful and well written' ~ William Dalrymple, Times Literary Supplement