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Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man Who Would be King: The True Story of the Man Who Would Be King

By: Ben Macintyre
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 0007151063
ISBN-13: 9780007151066
Released: 17 May 2004
RRP: £20.00
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

excellent - By: R. Nolan, 28 Sep 2008
This is an astonishingly good book, very readable, & i recommend its reading to anyone with an interest in unusual characters.
I can't believe its not fiction! - By: Mr. Daniel Winfield, 19 Jan 2005
Like the previous reviewer, I first heard of Josiah Harlan via George MacDonald-Fraser's Flashman & the Mountain of Light & was intrigued by both him & Alexander Gardner. Having been unable to alll but the most rudiment information about either individual I was extremely pleased to discover this book by accident whilst browsing on this website.

There is not much more I can add that has not been mentioned already in the previous reviews - just that if you have any interest in MacDonald-Fraser, Kipling or Colonial India in general then this is a must-read book.

So much better than fiction... - By: Mr. M. J. Pailing, 16 Jun 2004
I first became aware of Josiah Harlan through the fantastic "Flashman & the Mountain of Light" (and if you haven't read that then you must) & I've always wanted to know more about him. So it was a joy to hear that this book had been written. Harlan's life is even more fascinating & incredible than I had dared to imagine after his appearance in "Flashman" - an American Quaker who conned his way to becoming a surgeon for the East India Company, then decided to invade Afghanistan on behalf of its exiled king. He ended up as a not-so-minor potentate in the wilds of Central Asia, which is the part of his background that makes him the obvious candidate as the inspiration for Kipling's "Man Who Would Be King".

Ben Macintyre writes beautifully, & he manages to evoke the landscape & the time wonderfully. His style is inclusive, & his humorous asides are no distraction - if anything they enhance the book. In fact, even if you aren't particularly interested in Josiah Harlan I would still recommend it for Macintyre's writing.

I generallly don't like to write a review without at least one little gripe. Unfortunately my one & only gripe for this book is very, very smalll indeed - when describing part of Alexander the great's campaign he says that Alexander defeated Darius the Great. He didn't - Darius The Great was an earlier Persian king. There, gripe over - & pretty insignificant it was, too, eh?