Talbot Mundy’s most popular book is King of the Khyber Rifles. Interesting in how Mundy walks the tightrope of giving the "mysterious East" just enough credit to provide the hero a worthy adversary, while still reassuring the British target audience that Western ingenuity and moral fiber will always triumph. fomented by the Germans and Turks. How can we admire them as heroic, when neither triumphs by positive virtues? The author, Talbot Mundy (1879-1940), was born in England. Great stuff. King of the Khyber Rifles Book Description : The men who govern India-more power to them and her!-are few. King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy takes place at the beginning of World War I. Best known as the author of King of the Khyber Rifles and the Jimgrim series, much of his work was published in pulp magazines. Those who stand in their way and pretend to help them with a flood of words are a host. King of the Khyber Rifles Talbot Mundy, english writer (1879-1940) This ebook presents «King of the Khyber Rifles», from Talbot Mundy. Publisher Description. NOOK Book. Talbot Mundy has an ex cathedra way of pronouncing on all and sundry especially the differences between East and West. Talbot Mundy is one of the forgotten writers of the early 20C. Start by marking “King of the Khyber Rifles” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The book influenced my belief that the US would fail in Afghanistan-because it had left me with a sense of an indomable landscape and people... Read on my iPhone via Serial. This starts out, and indeed continues, with a lot of. This makes H. Rider Haggard look like high literature but Talbot Mundy was a writer for his times and wrote 39 novels, meeting much success. You may find it for free on the web. If you click on one of the words in the text, a convenient pop-up window appears with a customized Urdu thesaurus for that word, which includes a variety of Urdu translations that come from Webster's Online Dictionary (www.websters-online-dictionary.org). June 1st 1978 The book is only remotely like the movie. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. If you make it through the slow sections and somewhat repetitious philosophical speeches that Mundy has put into his characters' mouths, it's a decent enough adventure story with an interesting twist. Read "King of the Khyber Rifles" by Talbot Mundy available from Rakuten Kobo. Athelstan King, Yasmini, Rewa Gunga, Bull-with-a Beard, Germans and Turks conspiring to start a jehad against the British, fantasti. This is a story written by an Englishman in 1916 and set in India's North West Frontier and the Khyber Pass – so you know pretty well what you are going to get. Tthe landscape of the book, however, the caves and mountains of Afghanistan, were probably the most vivid images I took away. A fairly simple adventure story I must that the reason I read this I loved the movie. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. "King--of the Khyber Rifles" by Talbot Mundy. This is a spy thriller par excellance filled with romance and action, set first in India and then in the exotic area of the Khyber Pass and Khinjan in Pakistan and Afghanistan (generally the northeastern area of England's then Indian Empire or Raj). Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2014. Heavily influenced both by Mundy's own unsuccessful career in India and by his interest in theosophy, it describes King's adventures among the … Paperback $ 15.95. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Mr Keely can you vouch for Talbot Mundys other work? These promotions will be applied to this item: Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. An enjoyable read from an era when supporting the British Empire was a natural position to take and where you fought as necessary to keep it. I came to read this after hearing about this book being an inspiration for S.M. Athelstan King is a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of World War I. Yes, it has the casual racism of the time, and it jars, but we do have an upright, two-fisted hero who isn't afraid to use his brain. Swashbuckling adventure story of conspiracy, espionage, disguise, cults, and fighting (cry out: "Kutch dar nahin hai!" We’d love your help. All rights reserved. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2017. His tales are less fantastic than, say, Edgar Rice Burroughs' or Robert E. Howard's, but they're equally rich in setting. Released in United States Winter December 1953. [, not Charles, trapped, overwhelmed by Bull's villains for their own spy, then stolen by HER men and tossed to King. Talbot Mundy, the author, actually served in India, so this is his accounting of service in the British Empire at the end of the Great Game. He was a contemporary of Conan Doyle and H. Rider Haggard, but his adventure thrillers haven't endured as theirs have. At least, King's wisdom on the "real" India comes in small bites. If you're craving a classic adventure novel from times gone by, King of the Khyber Rifles will definitely do the trick. He was a contemporary of Conan Doyle and H. Rider Haggard, but his adventure thrillers haven't endured as theirs have. before tackling a project assignment) during the British Raj. Many of his novels, including his first novel Rung Ho!, and his most famous work King of the Khyber Rifles, are set in India under British Occupation in which … Hard to see why not, really. Read "King -- of the Khyber Rifles, a Romance of Adventure" by Talbot Mundy available from Rakuten Kobo. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Captain Athelstan King is a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of the First World War. These organizations neither sponsored nor are affiliated with this product. Started a little slow but once I got into it it was a fun read. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Please try again. Talbot Mundy (1879 - 1940) Athelstan King is a British Secret Agent stationed in India at the beginning of WWI. Captain Athelstan King is a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of the First World War. Books Advanced Search New Releases Best Sellers & More Children's Books Textbooks Textbook Rentals Best Books of the Month King--of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of Adventure and millions of other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Athelstan King is a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of World War I. this review is so rich with ideas and new places to look. King of the Khyber Rifles may well be Mundy's most famous work. In any given month, the range of new books hitting the shelves can be frankly astonishing. Though this was a "Khyber Pass" of fantasy...and the book somewhat over the top in terms of characters & plot. Spanish cinema of the 50s to early 80s was busy promulgating what I refer to as "The Spain that never was" in the same way; a romanticised, idealised view of their own culture. The hero, Athelstan King, is a British Secret Service agent who must do the impossible - prevent a Moslem jihad (sound familiar?) This starts out, and indeed continues, with a lot of stilted, repetitive dialogue. His novel King of the Khyber Rifles is set in India under British Occupation. You are right on both counts. Athelstan King, seventh generation India-British soldier, must investigate mystery "Heart of the Hills", rumors of an India uprising that would surprise British forces facing the other way, the German war machine of WW1. At times it was hard for me to tell where Mundy's belief in psychic/philosophical rigmarole stopped and the swashbuckling tale took over, but I definitely sensed a certain sincerity beneath the pulp adventure story. The tribes are gathering, the mullahs are exhorting, the rumors are flying, and the government needs to know what's really going on. Mundy's once famous novel owes a lot to certain predecessors, especially Haggard's, This is very similar to Haggard's "She," in that a Western man travels into a remote province full of exotic peoples and places, and encounters the ultimate exotic entity: a strong-willed, beautiful, murderous woman, always alternating between laughter and flashing-eyed anger, who deep down just wants a MAN so they can rule their Shangri-La together, and maybe conquer the world. King of the Khyber Rifles, published in 1916, is a rousing tale of adventure on the Northwest Frontier on India. Customers reported quality issues in this eBook. In a way, a standard paternalist/racist white-man-among-the-brown-people adventure yarn, clearly written quickly (though much of the writing, poetry aside, is surprisingly artful). !It sucks you into the adventure pretty quickly, but a lot of the action turns out to be traveling- on trains, cars, carriages, up the Khyber pass, into the mysterious valley, into the secret mountain, back and forth through rocky passages and lots of cave,... a lot of traveling and lots. The situation is serious because English forces in India are being depleted due to a general call up because of the British war effort in Europe. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Very good stuff. It participated in all the orientalism Edward Said explored in his scholarship. The Talbot Mundy Megapack: 28 Classic Novels and Short Stories, The Harold Lamb Megapack: 18 Classic Adventure Tales, E. Hoffmann Price's Exotic Adventures MEGAPACK®, Optimized for the MobiPocket Reader, this is a very special edition of Talbot Mundy's "King of the Khyber Rifles." Paperback. Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2017. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. More by Talbot Mundy Skip this list. Our brave hero, Athelstan King, is a secret agent sent up into the "Hills" (they always are put in quote marks) to head off an insurrection led by a mysterious woman known as Yasmini. Having said that, the author's time in India as a young man and his interest in various philosophical faiths do smooth the rough edges of prejudice a little. Please try again. Around 1850 in India: British colonial troops fight against rebellious martial hill tribes. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Here the story takes pla. !It sucks you into the adventure pretty quickly, but a lot of the action turns out to be traveling- on trains, cars, carriages, up the Khyber pass, into the mysterious valley, into the secret mountain, back and forth through rocky passages and lots of cave,... a lot of traveling and lots of caves... Mundy depends a great deal on movement in his books, with occasional chunks of rather not very involving action. Be the first to ask a question about King of the Khyber Rifles. So, if you like an elaborated and formal style of writing, it is great! Somewhere beyond India, on a quest for Khinjan Caves, King meets a group of characters which include: the Princess Yasmini, Ismail, Darya Khan, and many more. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! In response Germany and Turkey are equipping the lawless tribes of "the Hills" for a jihad against the increasingly defenseless British Raj. Written in 1916 and set in Afghanistan, this book features Captain Athelstan King who is dispatched to the North West Frontier to keep tribesmen from a German supported invasion of British India. An above average old fashioned swashbuckler - nuff said. fomented by the Germans and Turks, into Hindu India, which could potentially cause a general uprising in India against the English (the Moslems, of course, want to conquer India). $15.95. Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon) was an English-born American writer of adventure fiction. Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2010. The disposition of the suit has not been determined. It was magic to my 11 year old self - total colonialist romanticism. His strange ability like "water, to reach the point he aimed for" p20 can reach through a noisy loud crowded train station, or bandit-ridden northern Hills to Khinjan Caves, where seductive mesmerising Yasmini rules and no other Secret Service Agent has returned from. Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2013. Not a bad old yarn, reminiscent of both Kipling and Haggard. This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. King is sent on a mission to the Khyber Pass to stop possible rebellion among the hill tribesmen. I have lived in Spain for the past 33 years, through the "transition" (from dictatorship to what passes for democracy in the modern world). Still, the suspense keeps the reader moving from page to page for most of the book and it has much less of the blocks of pseudo-philosophical pronouncements that take up a lot of his Tros Of Samothrace. TOEFL-, TOEIC-, GRE-, AP- and Advanced Placement- are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service; PSAT- is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation; SAT- is a registered trademark of the College Board; GMAT- is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council; LSAT- is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council. Athelstan King is a British Secret Agent stationed in India at the beginning of WWI. Read Online. King of the Khyber Rifles won't rank among the greats of English literature, but it is an enjoyable romp through the myths of the British Empire's "glory days" before reality came crashing in. Not much is revealed about the background of Yasmini who is brown and blonde - looking quite a bit like a Peroxide Auntie - who cleverly adopts the persona of an old legend ( Greek man/General from 200 years ago, his brown-blonde consort) and rules the loyalty of the most wicked and ferocious looking Afridis with some deft dancing and a dagger as well as a gold bracelet or two with carved symbols. Set in India around the time of the outbreak of World War I, the tale outlines the tensions between the restless and defiant natives of India and the British forces, which have been weakened by the demands of fighting against the Germans. The story of political intrigue, warmongering and romance in the north-west frontier of India starts slowly, but picks up pace with plenty of exotic detail. During Mundy's career his work was often compared with that of his more commercially successful contemporaries, H. Rider Haggard and Rudyard Kipling, unlike their work his adopted an anti-colonialist stance and expressed a positive interest in Asian religion and philosophy. Welcome back. Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon) (April 23, 1879 – … To accomplish his mission, King must enlist the services of the elusive Yasmini, a virtual princess in the area, and discover the secret of the Khinjan Caves. Something went wrong. At times it was hard for me to tell where Mundy's belief in psychic/philosophical rigmarole stopped and the swashbuckling tale took over, but I definitely sensed a certain sincerity beneath the pulp adventure story. http://freeread.com.au/@RGLibrary/TalbotMundy/Yasmini/KingOfTheKhyberRifles.html, Best of the Pulp Magazine Authors and Literature. 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