King--of the Khyber Rifles

About This Book

First published in 1917, King of the Khyber Rifles is an adventure novel by Talbot Mundy (1879–1940) set on the Northwest Frontier of British India during World War I. Captain Athelstan King of the Indian Secret Service is sent into the Khyber Pass to prevent a holy war that could draw tens of thousands of tribesmen into rebellion against the British. He must navigate a treacherous landscape of tribal politics, German agents, and the mysterious woman known as Yasmini, who commands the loyalty of the hill people. The novel was adapted into a 1953 film. Mundy drew on his travels in India and his sympathy for Eastern cultures to create adventure fiction that questioned as much as it celebrated the British Empire. The novel is in the public domain.

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