The Mulberry Empire Or The Two Virtuous Journeys Of The Amir Dost Mohammed Khan 2003 Reed 2003 Philip Hensher by Philip Hensher 9780007112272, 0007112270, B01K0UJ8PC instant download after payment.

Philip Hensher’s historical novel about the 1830s British-Afghan conflict focuses on the complex relationship between two of the leading players.

The novel recounts an episode in central Asia’s Great Game - the British courtship, betrayal and invasion of Afghanistan in the 1830s, followed by Afghani insurrection and the summary bloody expulsion of the British from Kabul. At the story’s heart is the encounter between West and East, as embodied in the likeable, complex relationship between Alexander Burnes, leader of the initial British expeditionary party, and the wily, cultured Afghani ruler, the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan.

"The first Afghan War of 1839 (the English tried and failed to displace a potentate unfriendly to its colonial ambitions) is the subject of this fascinating US debut... Well-known British novelist and journalist Hensher introduces with considerable flair a dauntingly large cast of characters in England and Kabul, with side trips to India and Russia, in a flexible omniscient narrator’s voice that frequently underscores his story with pointed sardonic commentary... The producers of The Jewel in the Crown ought to take a close look at this one."  -  Kirkus Reviews

Philip Hensheris an author and journalist who was chosen by Granta to appear on their prestigious, once-a-decade list of the twenty best young British novelists. His novels include Kitchen Venom, which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Other Lulus and The Mulberry Empire, which was shortlisted for the WH Smith ‘People’s Choice’ Award. The Northern Clemency was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2008 and Scenes from Early Life won the 2013 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.