King--of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of Adventure

By Talbot Mundy

Book Overview

The men who govern India-more power to them and her -are few. Those who stand in their way and pretend to help them with a flood of words are a host. And from the host goes up an endless cry that India is the home of thugs, and of three hundred million hungry ones. The men who know-and Athelstan King might claim to know a little-answer that she is the original home of chivalry and the modern mistress of as many decent, gallant, native gentlemen as ever graced a page of history. The charge has seen the light in print that India-well-spring of plague and sudden death and money-lenders-has sold her soul to twenty succeeding conquerors in turn.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1515062759
• ISBN13: 9781515062752
• Release Date: July 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 108 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

British India adventure/military classic

From cover: "There are rumors of an uprising. Our young hero Athelston King of the India Secret Service, is dispatched to the Khyber Pass to prevent what threatens to become a Holy War. Armed only with quick wit, courage and the knowledge of men, King must travel to the Khinjan Caves, a place from which no Englishman has ever emerged alive. For this mission, King is assigned a partner, Yasmini the Wonderful, a woman who all of India believes to hold the mysteries of the mountains in the hollow of her hand. Before they are through, many will die and King himself, will stand on the brink of death."

A Lost Classic

Thirty years ago, this was one of the "Classics Illustrated" comics, and it made a big impression on me as a kid. Now, having visited India and studied its history, returning to the story in book form resonated on several levels. Mundy is a piercing observer of human nature as manifested in the diverse peoples of India and their British imperialist masters. He is also a master of graphic description. This swashbuckling tale of fantasy and adventure lets him be Edgar Rice Burroughs and Rudyard Kipling at the same time. It's exhilirating, thought-provoking, and a great memoir of the not-so-distant days when fantasy worlds could still be postulated for this planet. Read it, and then read "The Nine Unknown", by the same author