The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: a reader

Designed for classroom use, The First Anglo-Afghan Wars gathers in one volume primary source materials related to the first two wars that Great Britain launched against native leaders of the Afghan region. From 1839 to 1842, and again from 1878 to 1880, Britain fought to expand its empire and prevent Russian expansion into the region's Northwest Frontier, which was considered the gateway to India, the jewel in Victorian Britain's imperial crown. Spanning from 1817 to 1919, the selections reflect the complex national, international, and anti-colonial interests entangled in Central Asia at the time.

Introduction: The Anglo-Afghan Wars in historical perspective -- Strategic interests on the road to Kabul -- A sketch of the military and political power of Russia (1817)/ Robert Wilson -- Journey to the North of India (1838)/ Arthur Conolly -- The court and camp of Runjit Sing (1840) / W.G. Osborne -- A narrative of the Russian military expedition to Khiva, under general Perofski (1939) -- The First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839-1842: occupation, route, defeat, captivity -- Narrative of the war in Affghanistan (1840) / Henry Havelock -- To Herat and Cabul: a story of the First Afghan War (1902) / G.A. Henty -- A journal of disasters in Affghanistan (1843) / Florentia Sale -- English captives at Cabul -- The life of the amir dost mohammed khan (1846), mohan lal -- The afghan wars (1896), archibald forbes -- The Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-1880: imperial insecurities, global stakes -- Gorchakov circular (1864) -- The Russian foreign policy in Asia (1877) / Eugene Schuyler -- The Afghan War: a lecture (1878) / Handel Cossham -- Afghanistan and its peoples (1878) and Afghan women and children -- India and Afghanistan (1879) / R.D. Osborn -- From the spectator: the magnitude of the Afghan …