Ask for a definition of Afghanistan and you will certainly be told of a blood-soaked national history featuring turbulent tribesmen defying invaders through the ages. Few recall that the country which seldom hosted the mirage of peace was also the inspiration for a literary and artistic masterpiece embracing great grief and glory.

This occurred when a remarkable man named James Atkinson travelled to Afghanistan in 1838. A superb artist and famous scholar who had translated Persia’s national epic, this Renaissance man had been designated the Superintending Surgeon of a massive British invasion force resolved to place a sympathetic ruler on the Afghan throne. The ill-fated British force fought its way through the Bolan Pass, swept through Kandahar and conquered Kabul. Soon afterwards Atkinson was released from duty, thereby escaping the catastrophe which awaited his comrades. During the subsequent rebellion the British political agent was beheaded and an estimated 16,000 British soldiers and their dependents were slaughtered in a week by the vengeful Afghans.

After the English captured Kabul, Atkinson’s eyewitness account of these turbulent events was rushed into print while British interest was at its peak. The astonishing true chronicle of events was a best-seller. Yet though the surgeon’s observations remain important, his forgotten artistic depictions are priceless.

During the campaign the talented doctor created twenty-five exquisite drawings. Replete with immense detail, nothing escaped his observant eye, including blazing deserts, skulking assassins, elephants on the march, the newly crowned king and a timeless cast of natives encountered en route from India to Kabul. All were faithfully depicted in minute detail. Sadly these inspired treasures were published separately and did not appear until after the disastrous annihilation of the British army, by which time the public’s interest in Afghanistan had dramatically diminished. Thus only a few rare copies of Atkinson’s artistic masterpiece exist in libraries today, and before the release of this new edition, his two Afghan works never appeared together as one complete book.

Once again the ravages of war are taking a toll as a new generation of British soldiers struggles against formidable Afghan warriors in that notoriously difficult country. In an ironic literary twist a serving British cavalry officer currently stationed in Afghanistan, 2^nd Lt. Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, provides a moving Introduction to Atkinson’s tale, explaining how his forefather fought alongside the author in the conflict of 1838.