Using research from contemporary letters, dispatches and journals, Patrick MacRory provides a compelling and gripping account of what became known as the First Afghan War, the culmination of which was the catastrophic British flight from Kabul in January 1842 that resulted in the deaths of 16,000 people. The war was Britain's folly. At the height of its power in India, Britain sought to create stability in the subcontinent, and prevent Russian and Persian encroachments, by removing from the Afgham throne a popular and colourful leader and replacing him with the unpopular though legitimate king. The experiment ended with the British Resident in Kabul butchered by an angry mob, a British envoy shot by an Afghan leader during a discussion - his dismembered corpse hung in the Kabul bazaar - and the ill-fated retreat. Seven days after Britain's Army of the Indus and 12,000 followers, including a number of British wives and children, left the gates of Kabul, a solitary horseman, bruised and bleeding, made his way slowly to the safety of the British garrison 90 harsh miles away. As officers ruched to bring him inside, orders were given to light a signal fire to guide others to safety. But there was no one else to view the beacon.