Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple
First book in my own little research into the East India Company and the British Empire. Recommended by Cole Wehrle in the notes for the game Pax Pamir (one of my favourites). The book covers the whole of the British Endeavour with the Afghans, from the spy prelude to the massacres on both sides. The most interesting part was, ironically, the last few pages, comparing the US situation in the region with the one the British created for themselves. Another interesting part was the prelude, which reminded me of the clear thinking part of the book, which was about getting information as close to the source as possible and considering the motivations of the informers, if those things were taken into account by the heads of the John Company, the story might be a lot less bloody. The reason for two stars is that the book did not read well, there were a lot of unnecessary anacrhony words. Add one star if you are interested in the period or want to understand Afghanistan today.