Volume 1 - 300 pages

Volume 2 - 320 pages

Illustrated with engravings

The First Anglo–Afghan War lasted from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during The Great Game, the Nineteenth Century competition for territory and influence between Great Britain and Russia, and also marked one of the major losses of the British after the consolidation of India by the British East India Company. From the British point of view, the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–42) was an unmitigated disaster.

These 2 volumes provide a detailed overview of the opening gambit of the war. An army of British and Indian troops  set out from the Punjab in December 1838. With them was William Hay Macnaghten, the former chief secretary of the Calcutta government who had been selected as Britain's chief representative to Kabul. They reached Quetta by late March 1839 and a month later took Kandahar without a battle. In July, after a two-month delay in Kandahar, the British attacked the fortress of Ghazni, overlooking a plain leading to India, and achieved a decisive victory over Dost Mohammad's troops led by one of his sons. Dost Mohammad fled with his loyal followers across the passes to Bamian, and ultimately to Bukhara. In August 1839, after almost thirty years, Shuja was again enthroned in Kabul.

An extraordinary account of this campaign with its hazards and dangers taking a continuous toll on the British. the book describes the progress of this army through hostile country, ironically still the cause of military intervention and casualties to this day.

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