Return of a KingSHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2013 'As taut and richly embroidered as a great novel . . . a masterpiece' Sunday Telegraph 'Dazzling' Sunday Times 'Magnificent' Guardian 'Sparkling' Daily Telegraph A towering history of the first Afghan War by bestselling historian William Dalrymple. In the spring of 1839, Britain commenced its first ambitious foray into Afghanistan. Nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops ventured through the