This is an engaging account of the life of James Lewis (alias Charles Masson) who was an 19th century British adventurer turned archaeologist. James Lewis joined the East India company as a soldier and was sent to India to help maintain British control. After eight years, he decided to leave his post and headed out into the desert. He ended up in Afghanisatan and there assumed the name of Charles Masson. He was surprised to find there a vibrant and multi-cultural community that welcomed strangers. Soon he got caught up in a search for one of the cities founded by Alexander the Great. He found a site that fit Alexander's description, and which contained ancient artifacts. The East India company did not forget about the deserter, James Lewis, and eventually figured out that Lewis and Masson were the same person. They coerced Masson to spy for them, feeding them information about local political factions. Eventually the intelligence he provided lead to a disastrous British invasion of the country that Masson had grown to love.
This is a very interesting book about a time period and place I had never studied before. Richardson's descriptions of old Kabul and other Afghanistan cities are fascinating, and changed the way I think about a place I had always associated with poverty and religious extremists. I was also interested in the bombastic American, Josiah Harlan, who thought he could waltz into Afghanistan and make himself a king. The writing is engaging, and Richardson quotes a lot of primary sources, so the essentials of the story are well researched. Richardson does extrapolate how Masson is thinking and feeling during his travels, which is maybe not rigorously historical, but makes the book much more readable. (2022, 352 p)
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