Five top books on the struggle for Afghanistan

William Dalrymple's books include several works of history and travel, including City of Djinns, which won the Young British Writer of the Year Prize and the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; the best-selling From the Holy Mountain; White Mughals, which won Britain’s most prestigious history prize, the Wolfson; and The Last Mughal, which won the Duff Cooper Prize for History and Biography. His new book is Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42.

One of Dalrymple's five favorite books on the struggle for Afghanistan, as told to the Telegraph:

Though a little dated in tone, The Great Game (1990) by Peter Hopkirk remains the classic work on the subject and one of the paciest and most exciting works of narrative history I have ever read.

Read about another book Dalrymple tagged.

Also see: Top ten books on Afghanistan; Five top books on foreigners in Afghanistan; Five books on Afghanistan; and Five best books about Afghanistan.

--Marshal Zeringue