Return of a King torrent

5 X 15 mins

A foreign army invades Afghanistan, overthrows the government, puts a puppet ruler in its place, and is then forced to retreat. Sound familiar? The Soviet Union in the 1980s? NATO right now? No. This is Britain in 1841, thus proving yet again that politicians never learn from history.

On the flimsiest of pretexts, a British army invaded Afghanistan in 1839 and overthrew the king, replacing him with their own puppet ruler. By 1841, the British were forced to withdraw in the middle of an Afghan winter, at terrible cost. This makes for salutary listening.

Fans (like me) of the Flashman novels will know this campaign is covered in great detail in the first book in the series.