New: Book Report: The Man Who Would Be King

A U.S.A. citizen went to Afghanistan and got mixed up in the local wars and politics. In the 1830s. This is his story. Ben MacIntyre wrote this book about Josiah Harlan, foreign meddler. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to have been a huge culture of journalism in 1830s Afghanistan, so much of the story relies on Harlan's own memoirs--and those parts aren't always self-consistent. So there are at least a few lies scattered about.

But it's a ripping yarn none-the-less. And it's nice to read about a time when Kabul had good fruits and veggies.

(This is not an example of light summer reading from the San Francisco Public Library. This is an example of spring reading from the U.C. Berkeley library. But I'm just now getting around to uploading the book report.)

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Posted 2005-07-07