Return of a King. William Dalrymple

It is a history of the British invasion of Afghanistan in 1839, one of those passages of history the close examination of which requires a strong stomach – and which therefore also require the most thorough investiga­tion. The seductive artistry of Dalrymple's narrative gift draws the reader into events that are sometimes almost unbearable, but his account is so perceptive and so warmly humane that one is never temp­ted to break away
With access to newly discovered primary sources from archives in Afgh­anistan, Pakistan, Russia and India — including a series of previ­ously untranslated Afghan epic poems and biographies — the author gives us the most immediate and comprehensive account yet of the spectacular first battle for Afghanistan: the British invasion of the re­mote kingdom in 1839. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed helmets, and facing little resistance, nearly 20,000 British and East In­dia Company troops poured through the mountain passes from India into Afghanistan in or­der to reestablish Shah Shuja ul-Mulk on the throne, and as their pup­pet. But after little more than two years, the Afghans rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into rebellion. This First Anglo-Afghan War ended with an entire army of what was then the most powerful military nation in the world am­bushed and destroyed in snow­bound mountain passes by simply equipped Afghan tribesmen. Only one British man made it through.

Samuel Johnson prize 2013 shortlist