Retreat from Kabul The Catastrophic British Defeat in Afghanistan, 1842

Using research from contemporary letters, dispatches, and journals, author Patrick Macrory provides a gripping account of what is known as the First Afghan War. The war was Britain's folly: at the height of its power in India, Britain sought to create stability in the subcontinentand prevent Russian and Persian encroachmentsby removing a colorful and popular leader from the Afghan throne and replacing him with the unpopular, though legitimate, king. The experiment ended with a British resident in Kabul butchered by an angry mob, a British envoy shot by an Afghan leader during a discussionhis dismembered corpse hung in the Kabul bazaarand the ill-fated retreat of the British, which resulted in the death of 16,000 people. Retreat From Kabul is the compelling and gruesome story of how the world's greatest military power learned a bloody and previously unimagined lesson by underestimating the Afghan' iron resistance to foreign invasion and intrigue. It is a tale of heroism in the face of unspeakable brutality, of diplomatic folly, of great sacrifice, and of terrible tragedy. It is an entrancing look at what happens when cultures collide.MacRory, Patrick is the author of 'Retreat from Kabul The Catastrophic British Defeat in Afghanistan, 1842', published 2007 under ISBN 9781599211770 and ISBN 1599211777.