In the 1800s, Afghanistan’s state-building problems were dramatically aggravated by the intervention of two new imperialist powers, the British Empire and Czarist Russia. The British saw the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan as natural barrier, one that would protect the lucrative Indian subcontinent from invasion.

The book provides a first-hand account of British Army operation in Cabul during 1842, when Afghanistan rose up in revolt against its ruler and the British forces in the city. The book provides an insightful account of what happened in the city during this period, followed by a brief relation of the retreat, when Afghan tribal forces decimated the British Army and their followers. The author also provides an interesting narrative of his time as a prisoner.