Lady Sale's Afghanistan: an Indomitable Victorian Lady's Account of the Retreat from Kabul During the First Afghan War

a fascinating eye witness, day by day account of one of the great military disasters in history. Britain decided to indulge in a little regime change in Afghanistan in 1840, propping up a weak vascillating Afghan king with a large amount of money and a fair number of English and Indian troops. and then they decided to cut back on the financial support. they still might have gotten away with it, but sent in a sickly antiquated general to lead the troops who proceeded to squander every possible advantage only to agree to a retreat through the Afghan mountains in the dead of winter. in the end, only one man made it out of Afghanistan on his own. most of the rest were cut to ribbons. Lady Sale herself was eventually taken prisoner and held for months after the army's destruction. The real pity is that Lady Sale wasn't in charge herself.Lady Sale, wife of General Fighting Bob Sale and one of the real heros of the campaign having been posted to Jallabad before the fall of Kabul, was there and saw it all, with a withering crystal clear eye. get a blow by blow acccount of the whole affair up to the retreat through the snow out of Kabul and an incredibly intelligent analysis of just why things fell apart. Really one of the most riveting eye witness accounts of any war I've ever read. however, if you don't already have a firm grasp of the various personalities and events, you'll find this pretty rough sledding, particularly early on. but if you do have some knowledge of the events, this book is a real gem.Highly recommended for any and all Flashman fans. Lady Sale is one of the main characters in George MacDonald Fraser's first Flashman book and clearly one of the primary sources for the events in the book. For anyone who's ever wondered how England conquered and held India, I give you Lady Sale.

The problems associated with Afghanistan are very old. Lady Sale witnessed the conflicts of the 1840s. The situation has not changed very much. Empires struggle to control this rugged geopolitical boundary between civilizations. The native, brutal, inbred and totally insular tribes have fought off Indian, British, Gorkha, Russian and American troops. They continue to flood nations with opium. The women of Afghanistan still live and die in the 7th century. Nothing has changed since Lady Sale wrote her fascinating record of engagements by British Regiments 176 years ago.

Rare history which should be read by every student of history.

About the aftermath of the 1st Afghan war and the plight suffered by captured British Women. A book about endurance, faith and love.

very interesting

Considering the Western involvement in modern Afghanistan this is amazingly apt. A wonderful account from a formidable lady; read it.

Just can't get into it.

Clear-eyed, no nonsense, savvy survivor.

Absolutely fascinating account of the disastrous British foray into Afghanistan (first time around!) All the more gripping because it is told by one of the few women who experienced the popular rising against the British, the retreat from Kabul and captivity in a remote fortress. Although she witnessed some appalling events and lived in daily terror of being massacred, Lady Sale's calm, sensible character shines through the prose. A woman of great courage - you can imagine how she kept up the spirits of her fellow hostages.

A well researched book written with flair difficult to put down. Very sad outcome and a lesson for todays politicians. Lessons have not been learned

It is a pity that the publisher has not got someone to do a map of Kabul at the time, so that you can follow where the fighting is. As a result I could not get a sense of what was happening and place names meant nothing. Lady Sale uses a lot of words no longer in use, such as "ottah", "sirdar" and "bhoosa", which I suspect are her version of local words, but an explanation would have helped. A bit of time and money spent putting it into a more readable form would have made it a brilliant read rather than a struggle.