On Afghanistan's Plains: The Story of Britain's Afghan Wars

by General Sir David Richards (Foreword), Jules Stewart

Britain's military involvement in Afghanistan is a contentious subject, yet it is often forgotten that the current conflict is in fact the fourth in a string of such wars dating back more than 170 years. Aiming to protect British India from the expanding Russian empire, the British fought a series of conflicts on Afghan territory between 1838 and 1919. The Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th and early 20th centuries were ill-conceived and led to some of the worst military disasters ever sustained by British forces in this part of the world, with poor strategy in the First Afghan War resulting in the annihilation of 16,000 soldiers and civilians in a single week. In his new book, Jules Stewart explores the potential danger of replaying Britain's military catastrophes and considers what can be learnt from revisiting the story of these earlier Afghan wars.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Robin Braysher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read! It does cover a lot of ground in a relatively short volume so, inevitably, it lacks detail in some areas, but I wanted an overview of Britain's involvement in Afghanistan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. For detailed accounts of specific campaigns or battles, there are plenty of other books out there (e.g. 'Return of a King' by William Dalrymple). Stewart has a good way with character sketches and provides some entertaining anecdotes. As a journalist he is well placed to consider modern parallels, which I found interesting. On the downside, maybe as he is a journalist rather than a military historian, he makes a few errors in his military terminology - although being a military historian doesn't make you immune to such factual errors. They are of little consequence, though, and perhaps demonstrate that I should get out more! The few maps are of good quality, although I would have appreciated specific maps to accompany the accounts of the later wars. If we think our current politicians are a rum lot, this book shows that their Victorian predecessors weren't very much better.

[Reverenddave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I doubt I could ever not like a book examining the first Afghan War, that said, this attempt was one of the weaker efforts. Trying to cover all three (2.5) wars results in a book that frequently goes too fast and omits details that would provide a much richer context to the events. Also, as is in fashion with recent books on the 1st AW, the author feels it necessary to draw parallels to the most recent invasion of Afghanistan. Now I am certainly not saying parallels dont exist, they just dont add to understanding of the events that are the focus of this book. In fact they tend to draw the reader out of the narrative as well as create concerns about possible political subtexts.

All that said, if you want a quick introduction to the first couple British-Afghan wars, this book meets that need nicely.