The Anglo-Afghan Wars 1839–1919

by Fremont-Barnes, Gregory

• ISBN13: 9781846034466
• ISBN10: 1846034469
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-24
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Summary

During the 19th Century Britain entered into three brutal wars with Afghanistan, each one an imperial struggle for power that saw the British forces trying, and failing, to gain control of an inhospitable and impenetrable region. The first two wars (1839 - 42, 1878 - 81) were attempts to expunge pro-Russian sympathies, and thehe third, in 1919, a result of an Afghan-declared holy war against British India. In the last of the three, over 100,000 Afghans answered the call for a holy war, generating a military force that would prove too great for the British Imperial army. Each of the three wars were plagued with military disasters, lengthy sieges and costly engagements for the British, and history has proved the Afghans a formidable foe and Afghanistan an unconquerable territory. This book reveals the history of these three Anglo-Afghan wars, the imperial power struggles that led to conflict and the torturous experiences of the men on the ground as they struggled against the inhospitable Afghan terrain and an unrelenting enemy. The book concludes with a brief overview of the motives for today's conflict and draws the historical parallels between the past and present.

Author Biography

Gregory Fremont-Barnes holds a doctorate in Modern History from Oxford University. A visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he has written on a wide range of military and naval subjects, including The French Revolutionary Wars, The Peninsular War, 1807-1814, The Fall of the French Empire, 1813-1815, The Boer War, 1899-1902, The Wars of the Barbary Pirates, Trafalgar 1805, Nelson's Sailors, The Indian Mutiny, 1857-58 and American Bomber Crewman in World War II, 1941-45. He is also editor of the two-volume Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760-1815, the three-volume Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and co-editor of the five-volume Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War. The author lives in Surrey, England.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 7
Chronology	p. 10
The First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839-42
Origins and background of the war	p. 14
Warring sides	p. 18
The fighting	p. 20
How the war ended	p. 33
Portrait of a civilian: Florentia, Lady Sale (1787-1853)	p. 37
The world around war: the playground of the Great Game	p. 43
The Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-81
Origins and background of the war	p. 50
Warring sides	p. 54
The fighting	p. 56
How the war ended	p. 72
Portrait of a soldier: Arthur Male, Army chaplain, 13th Hussars	p. 74
The Third Anglo-Afghan War, 1919
Origins and background of the war	p. 80
Warring sides	p. 82
The fighting	p. 83
How the war ended	p. 85
Conclusion and consequences	p. 86
Bibliography and further reading	p. 92
Index	p. 94
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