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Man Who Would Be King (Hardcover)

by Ben Macintyre (Author) "Josiah Harlan's hunt for a crown began with a letter ..." (more)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Fsg Adult; 1 edition (April 1 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374201781
ISBN-13: 978-0374201784
Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 16.2 x 3.1 cm
Shipping Weight: 640 g

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #144,750 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#78 in Books > History > Asia > Afghanistan

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

While many know Sean Connery as "The Man Who Would Be King," few know 19th-century maverick Josiah Harlan, whose adventures probably inspired John Huston's version of Kipling's tale. But the research of British journalist Macintyre (The Englishman's Daughter) gives readers both Harlan's story and a thought-provoking perspective on the history of superpower intervention in Afghanistan. Born to a Pennsylvania Quaker family in 1799, the self-educated Harlan studied Greek and Roman history before becoming a Freemason and shipping out to Calcutta at age 21. Jilted by his fiancée, Harlan decided to seek his fortune on the Asian subcontinent. Calling himself a doctor, he briefly served as a military surgeon with the British army in the Burma War, before tales of Afghanistan fired his imagination. Disguised as a Muslim holy man, Harlan wheeled and dealed his way to Kabul, buying up mercenaries and bribing tribal leaders like a seasoned Afghan warlord. In 1838, Harlan was crowned king of the fierce Hazara people, although the British overthrow of the sitting Afghan ruler soon forced his departure. While mapping Harlan's adventures, Macintyre entertains readers with odd episodes (e.g., Harlan visiting an Afghan sauna fueled by burning night soil) and myriad ironies (e.g., Freemason Harlan trading secrets with an old Rosicrucian sorcerer in an Afghan cave). Harlan's story alone is fascinating, but its resonance with modern-day struggles—Harlan urging the British to try "fiscal diplomacy" (i.e., gold) instead of "invading and subjugating an unoffending people"—makes it compelling. Maps not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In the nineteenth century, just as it is in the twenty-first, Afghanistan was a brutal, chaotic, and dangerous land. Then, agents of the Russian and British empires schemed for control of the country. Into this volatile mix, an unlikely but compelling character inserted himself. Josiah Harlan was raised in a prosperous, pious Quaker family in rural Pennsylvania. As an energetic, insatiably curious boy, he was enthralled with the exploits of Alexander the Great. His fascination with Alexander and the lands of Central Asia led him to a series of military adventures in Afghanistan and the Northwest Frontier region that had remarkable parallels with some of the tales told in Rudyard Kipling's classic short story "The Man Who Would Be King." Macintyre, a columnist for the Times of London, tells this story with zest, aplomb, and just a touch of sadness. Harlan was an unusual combination of romanticism and hardheaded practicality, and his encounters with a variety of British imperialists, double-dealing mercenaries, and emirs with a penchant for torture make for a thrilling real-life yarn. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars An American in Afghanistan, Jul 5 2004

By	Pierre R. Hart (Etowah, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A lovelorn Quaker from Pennsylvania would seem an improbable player in the treacherous game of Afghan politics. Yet for more than a decade, beginning in 1826, Josiah Harlan would figure large in the intrigue swirling in and about that remote country. As he has done in several previous biographies, Macintyre has retrieved an all-but-forgotten character from the past, placing his biography in its fascinating historical context
If Harlan's decision to seek his fortune in Asia was prompted in part by his American fiancee's decision to marry another, his obsession with Alexander the Great's record of conquest was the positive impulse. As he traveled the Asian landscape, Harlan was continuously reminded of the Macedonian ruler's impact upon civilization there. Indeed, Macintyre contends that he imagined his role to be that of a latter day Alexander.
At the same time, Harlan remained a product of his American Quaker upbring. As the author puts it: "Harlan had always had two sides to his thinking: the Jeffersonian republican and the would-be monarch, the crusader for Western civilization who yet admired and adopted the native ways." (257) This explains why he was often at odds with the British colonialists of India, who constantly sought to extend their influence and control into Afghanistan by harsh means. At the same time, he himself was a stern taskmaster, eager to impose his own brand of Western practices.
His greatest achievement was, after several periods of service under native rulers, to persuade a northern Afghan chieftain, Mohammed Reffee Beg, to cede the powers of government to him in perpetuity, in return for which Harlan was to guarantee the recruitment and maintenance of the kingdom's military. A remarkable testament to his demonstrated organizational skills, his new status never translated into actual rule. Within a year the British would install their own choice on the throne in Kabul, and Harlan strongly encouraged to quit the country as a possible threat to their plans.
It is remarkable that in the maelstrom of duplicity and regicide that passed for politics in Afghanistan, this young American outside was able to gain the temporary confidence of so many. His manner could be dangerously imperious in situations where obsequiousness was the norm yet Harlan succeeded as did few other foreigners. Macintyre does not offer any direct explanation for that success but it seems clear that Harlan's ability to assimilate and his language fluency were important attributes of his character.
In an epilogue dated Kabul, September 2002, Macintyre visits the capital and describes the ruins of the palace where Harlan had resided for two years. He admits that "kings and would-be kings, foreign and home-produced, had never lasted long." (287) The dismal record of Afghan rule might appear at an end with the defeat of the Taliban. Yet despite that ray of optimism, the body of this biography, describing the capricious rule by local warlords which has long plagued Afghanistan, would seem to suggest otherwise.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Another Afghan Disappointment, Jun 16 2004

By	Sylvia Weiser Wendel (North Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Yet another book about the "Great Game" that isn't great, and has no game. No sense of person, place, or time can wriggle past the stifling ooze -- consisting of equal parts journalistic drone, hoary cliche, and predictable modifiers -- that lies, awaiting unsuspecting readers, between the covers of this tome. MacIntyre deserves to be applauded for his research; he should have hired someone else to do the writing. Here again we have a fascinating subject rendered lifeless by low-level prose. You want to know about this stuff? Read Kipling. He, at least, was not guilty of adverb abuse.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Instructive, Jun 7 2004

By	D. Wolf "wolfd" (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Macintyre's telling of Josiah Harlan's adventures in Pakistan and Afganistan makes for a wonderful read. Harlan's exotic and quixotic life are facinating and by relying on the subject's own colorful descriptions of his journey's (the only real record available) and by providing only necessary commentary, the reader gets a much better sense of what Harlan was like.

Harlan is not a particularly honorable character - he switched allegiences as suited his personal ambitions - but, he had a real sense of morality as regards the treatment of women, slavery etc. Harlan did not have a "white man's burden" view of the Afgan people; he respected their culture and many of their individual leaders as great intellects and rulers. His great ambition to establish himself as a ruler in Afganistan led to fantastic adventures that have no modern equivalent. A combination of guile, energy, and bravado helped him raise armies, engage with kings and princes, and affect the political landscape of part of the world previously untrammelled by Western Nations.

The history of the British intrusion into the area as well as the long standing local regional, tribal and family factions should not be forgotten by modern leaders looking to affect politics there. Harlan excortiates the British for trying to impose their will on Afganistan instead of building a form of government that includes the many competing factions. The British lost their hold on Kabul in a tragically bloody manner because they did not bother to understand the political and cultural dynamics of the region.

Mcintyre thankfully limits his views on the lessons of history in a reasonable and brief postscript to the biography. The story of Harlan is instructive without senseless commentary, and through restraint, the messages become clear.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A Different Point of View
Having read the book and then having read all the other favorable reader's comments, I'm wondering "Did we all read the same book? Read more

Published on May 27 2004 by Michael J. Muller

5.0 out of 5 stars America's First Afghanistan Episode
Whatever else we must blame them for, Al Queda and the Taliban can be thanked for bringing back to our memories a forgotten American, the first American who was ever in... Read more

Published on May 14 2004 by R. Hardy

5.0 out of 5 stars great book
i dont buy the line that mr macintyre's book is a parody of american involvement in afghanistan and iraq. i dont see him as being anti american. Read more

Published on May 5 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars good
Unlike some readers I am not wholly in favour of Amnerican intervention in the near and middle east. Read more

Published on April 26 2004