The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan in Around the World in 80 Books

Aug 06, 2008 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: biogr-memoir, middle-east-central-asia, re-reading, exploration-adventure, nonfiction, eccentrics

(Originally read December 2008. Rereading February 2016, a "The Second Time Around" book)

Original review, December 12, 2008

Who knew that Kipling's famous tale was loosely based on the exploits of an American adventurer? I sure didn't, but was fascinated by this literary predecessor. MacIntyre's colorful biography traces the rise of one Josiah Harlan, a lapsed Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania, whose nominally harebrained schemes to pursue glory in remote regions beyond the Indian frontier (Originally read December 2008. Rereading February 2016, a "The Second Time Around" book)

Original review, December 12, 2008

Who knew that Kipling's famous tale was loosely based on the exploits of an American adventurer? I sure didn't, but was fascinated by this literary predecessor. MacIntyre's colorful biography traces the rise of one Josiah Harlan, a lapsed Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania, whose nominally harebrained schemes to pursue glory in remote regions beyond the Indian frontier eventually led to his becoming a key adviser to the ruler of Afghanistan and commander of his army. His crowning achievement was being proclaimed the "Prince of Ghoree" in the remote mountains of Hazarajat, a short-lived triumph before his ultimate flight from Afghanistan a few months later in the wake of a British-led invasion.

As MacIntyre makes clear, Harlan in many ways was an eccentric figure, at times bordering on ridiculous, but he was at the same time brave, determined, wily, and intelligent. He had a peculiar capacity to reconcile drastically different philosophies, most notably American ideas of freedom and justice and a romanticized view of benevolent monarchy. Harlan's initial impetus for traveling to Afghanistan, too, was romantic: jilted by his fiancee, he joins the British Army in India in the capacity of (self-taught) surgeon. After meeting the exiled Afghan king Shujah al-Mulk in a northern frontier town, Harlan, who habitually "made no small plans" concocted a scheme to travel to Kabul and restore the king to his throne.

From that point on, Harlan seems less buffoonish, as he masters languages and customs with ease, gaining insight into the convoluted shifting Afghan tribal alliances not to mention the "Great Game" unfolding in some of the remotest places on earth. Reading of Harlan's encounters with Afghan chieftains and his many near-brushes (and occasional outright) disasters shed no little light on how, in some ways, the region still operates today. MacIntyre used Harlan's own voluminous writings as well as those of other travelers to the region to flesh out a fascinating world, and it's easy to understand why Harlan, who initially felt disdain for the "primitive" people of the region, ultimately became assimilated and ultimately switched alliances altogether - standing with the king he once set out to depose and against the British-backed one he initially wanted to restore.

In the end, I found my initial appraisal of this somewhat quixotic figure had turned to admiration. Harlan, who continually imagined himself following in the footsteps of Alexander, had something of that legendary conqueror's daring and no small measure of his ability to lead men. MacIntyre's quest in writing the book, too, seems to have been an undertaking of no little scope: intrigued by scattered references he ran across about Harlan, he managed to track down his papers in a forgotten Chester County archive. Yet MacIntyre refrains from using the story of his quest as a major theme, which I found admirable as I've been bored on more than one occasion by writers so puffed up with their own research feats that they can't help but insert themselves into the tale. Here instead MacIntyre merely sets the book into motion with his initial fascination, while the atmosphere throughout is testimony to his extensive travels in pursuit of the elusive Harlan.

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