With Both Hands

Sign in Subscribe

History

King–of the Khyber Rifles Book Review

King–of the Khyber Rifles
by Talbot Mundy
Carrol and Graf 1985
$3.95; 395 pages
ISBN 0881841692

I enjoy reading old books. This one is only 101 years old at this point, but I enjoy the act of getting into the mind of someone from another age. Written in 1916, Talbot Mundy's adventure story isn't that remote, but there was some dialogue at the beginning that I found very difficult to follow. A slangy exchange between Athelstan King and another officer reminded me how far language can change in 100 years.

I've had this one on the shelf for years, and I'm glad I finally read it. It inspired S. M. Stirling's Peshawar Lancers, and it was fun to read, but I doubt I'll ever come back to it. Mundy's Theosophy is just too weird for me. Other books of a similar vintage are a little easier for me to get into.

My other book reviews

King of the Khyber Rifles By Talbot Mundy

Read next

The Long View: American Babylon

The Long View: American Babylon

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus liked to say the first thing about politics is that is not the first thing. Over the course of his life, Fr. Neuhaus was an active player in American politics, but he always tried to keep it in its proper place: In this understanding, it is

The Long View: How Rome Fell

The Long View: How Rome Fell

And now we have John's review/reflection on just how the Western Roman Empire became capable of falling. As John was keenly interested in cyclical theories of history, it should come as no surprise that John's analysis is a combination of decreasing state capacity occurring in

The Long View: The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Long View: The Fall of the Roman Empire

One of the things I enjoyed the most about John J. Reilly's book reviews is that he was not only a gifted summarizer, able to quickly sum up the key points of a book, he was knowledgeable enough to critique and expand upon those key points in interesting

Comments ()