Book cover of A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan: A Firsthand Account by One of the Few Survivors

Book description

A remarkable diary that recounts the dramatic unfolding of the West's first intervention in Afghanistan.

First published in 1843, Lady Sale's Journal describes the first moves in what was to be known as "The Great Game" - the strtegic maneuvring between Russia nd Great Britain on the Northwest Frontier of…

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1 author picked A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Harry Flashman called Lady Sale a vinegary old dragon with a tongue like a carving knife. Well, what else would one expect from a cad who quailed before spirited women as hastily as he fled an enemy?

In reality, Lady Sale was cultured as well as tough. Her diary of Kabul life in 1842 records the pleasure of sharing her geraniums with "Afghan gentlemen" who she thought "a fine, manly-looking set". The British officers, on the other hand, she perceived as a pathetic lot, from the hapless General Elphinstone to various "reprehensible croakers".

Her own mettle was visible during the…

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