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. ( )