The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan

A fascinating bit of imperial history, The Man Who Would Be King traces the true story of Josiah Harlan, a Quaker from Pennsylvania, who in the 1820s journeyed to British India to make his fortune as a military surgeon. Harlan decided he wanted more, and became a self-made player in the Great Game, using his natural talents and self-taught skills in medicine, diplomacy, and warfare, to serve the last great Oriental potentates (Shah Shujah al-Moolk, Amir Dost Mohammed Khan, Maharaja Ranjit Singh) and make his fortune.

Harlan is a fascinating character: a man of great energy and ambition who climbs to power remarkably quickly, in an environment where making a mistake in your choice of friends or words can lead to painful death. Macintyre show more also does a great job depicting the richness of the Afghan courts and their colorful life, as contrasted against the harsh lives of the peasants. In a period when Europe and the US are spinning up an industrial revolution and basics of the modern state, the Afghans as consumed in politics and feuds from an early time; an empire collapsed into warring microstates. Harlan does become King, for barely a few weeks, climbing the ladder of Oriental nobility to rule a small valley on a putative expedition against Uzbek slavers. In the end, Harlan returned to the US, wrote a poorly received book on the British, and died in relative obscurity, but he lived a life that was heroic.

There are parts that I wish were a little clearer, on the geography and politics of the era, but overall this is a fun and colorful examination of strange and forgotten era. show less

Ben Macintyre's biography of Josiah Marshall, Pennsylvania Quaker turned Afghan adventurer, is an interesting if somewhat uncritical treatment, relying as it does mostly on Marshall's own (and thus presumably biased) accounts of his adventures. Marshall's exploits certainly are worthy of attention, but a bit more perspective on them would have been welcome. A few other small errors marred the book for me too (George Washington did not sign the Declaration of Independence!), but on the whole it's a perfectly acceptable popular history (and the last couple chapters on Marshall's post-Afghanistan life are very well done).

A piece of forgotten history made incredibly relevant by the times. But the author wisely avoids the temptation to draw too much from it. Instead, he simply presents the story of a man who throws his Quaker upbringing to the winds to seek fame and fortune in an unknown part of the world. A good retelling of an interesting story.