The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader
Designed for classroom use, The First Anglo-Afghan Wars gathers in one volume primary source materials related to the first two wars that Great Britain launched against native leaders of the Afghan region. From 1839 to 1842, and again from 1878 to 1880, Britain fought to expand its empire and prevent Russian expansion into the region's northwest frontier, which was considered the gateway to India, the jewel in Victorian Britain's imperial crown. Spanning from 1817 to 1919, the selections reflect the complex national, international, and anticolonial interests entangled in Central Asia at the time. The documents, each of which is preceded by a brief introduction, bring the nineteenth-century wars alive through the opinions of those who participated in or lived through the conflicts. They portray the struggle for control of the region from the perspectives of women and non-Westerners, as well as well-known figures including Kipling and Churchill. Filled with military and civilian voices, the collection clearly demonstrates the challenges that Central Asia posed to powers attempting to secure and claim the region. It is a cautionary tale, unheeded by Western powers in the post–9/11 era.
 
1116950463
The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader
Designed for classroom use, The First Anglo-Afghan Wars gathers in one volume primary source materials related to the first two wars that Great Britain launched against native leaders of the Afghan region. From 1839 to 1842, and again from 1878 to 1880, Britain fought to expand its empire and prevent Russian expansion into the region's northwest frontier, which was considered the gateway to India, the jewel in Victorian Britain's imperial crown. Spanning from 1817 to 1919, the selections reflect the complex national, international, and anticolonial interests entangled in Central Asia at the time. The documents, each of which is preceded by a brief introduction, bring the nineteenth-century wars alive through the opinions of those who participated in or lived through the conflicts. They portray the struggle for control of the region from the perspectives of women and non-Westerners, as well as well-known figures including Kipling and Churchill. Filled with military and civilian voices, the collection clearly demonstrates the challenges that Central Asia posed to powers attempting to secure and claim the region. It is a cautionary tale, unheeded by Western powers in the post–9/11 era.
 
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The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader

The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader

by Antoinette Burton (Editor)
The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader

The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader

by Antoinette Burton (Editor)

Paperback(New Edition)

$34.95 
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Overview

Designed for classroom use, The First Anglo-Afghan Wars gathers in one volume primary source materials related to the first two wars that Great Britain launched against native leaders of the Afghan region. From 1839 to 1842, and again from 1878 to 1880, Britain fought to expand its empire and prevent Russian expansion into the region's northwest frontier, which was considered the gateway to India, the jewel in Victorian Britain's imperial crown. Spanning from 1817 to 1919, the selections reflect the complex national, international, and anticolonial interests entangled in Central Asia at the time. The documents, each of which is preceded by a brief introduction, bring the nineteenth-century wars alive through the opinions of those who participated in or lived through the conflicts. They portray the struggle for control of the region from the perspectives of women and non-Westerners, as well as well-known figures including Kipling and Churchill. Filled with military and civilian voices, the collection clearly demonstrates the challenges that Central Asia posed to powers attempting to secure and claim the region. It is a cautionary tale, unheeded by Western powers in the post–9/11 era.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780822356622
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication date: 04/10/2014
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 9.70(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Antoinette Burton is Professor of History and Catherine C. and Bruce A. Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has written and edited many books, including A Primer for Teaching World History: Ten Design Principles; Empire in Question: Reading, Writing, and Teaching British Imperialism; Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History; and After the Imperial Turn: Thinking with and through the Nation, all published by Duke UniversityPress.
 

Table of Contents

Foreword / Andrew J. Bacevich ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: The Anglo-Afghan Wars in Historical Perspective 1

Part I. Strategic Interests on the Road to Kabul 15

Part II. The First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839-1842: Occupation, Route, Defeat, Captivity 43

Part III. The Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-1880: Imperial Insecurities, Global Stakes 127

Part IV. The Great Game, 1880-1919 189

Selected Bibliography of Secondary Sources 255

Reprint Acknowledgments 257

Index 259

What People are Saying About This

Afghanistan in Ink: Literature between Diaspora and Nation - Nile Green

"As important as they were in the annals of Britain's imperial history, the first Anglo-Afghan wars were the formative crises of the Afghan state. By drawing together travel writings, newspaper and intelligence reports, diaries, and poems by contemporaries, Antoinette Burton has assembled the essential compendium on these image-fixing encounters for the student and specialist alike."

From the Publisher


"As important as they were in the annals of Britain's imperial history, the first Anglo-Afghan wars were the formative crises of the Afghan state. By drawing together travel writings, newspaper and intelligence reports, diaries, and poems by contemporaries, Antoinette Burton has assembled the essential compendium on these image-fixing encounters for the student and specialist alike."—Nile Green, editor of Afghanistan in Ink: Literature between Diaspora and Nation

The Dream Life of Citizens: Late Victorian Novels and the Fantasy of the State - Zarena Aslami

"Antoinette Burton has curated a groundbreaking archive of documents related to what she poignantly calls the 'First Anglo-Afghan Wars.' Incisively introduced with a critical eye toward how these texts bear the traces of Afghan and sepoy agency and toward the roles of non-European actors in the unfolding of Afghanistan's history, this brilliant Reader delivers a counter-narrative to the totalizing pull of American exceptionalism. The significance of articulating this archive and situating its contents' relevance to the ongoing present cannot be overstated. As a classroom tool, it promises to revolutionize discussions not only about the British empire, but also about current front-page news."

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