The Mulberry Empire
by Philip Hensher
description:
“In the spring of 1839, some fifty thousand British forces entered Afghanistan with “the full pomp of the empire,” possessed of the certainty that they would replace the Amir with someone less hostile toward their ally, the King of the Punjab. Three years later, a single British horseman rode out of the Afghan mountains into India – the sole survivor of the original vast contingent. The Mulberry Empire is the magnificently told story of this conflict – of the events that surrounded it, of the politics and people on both sides, of the passions and pride that led to the destruction of the British and the triumph of the Afghans.
At the center: Alexander Burnes – a British explorer who ventures into the fabled city of Kabul, befriends the all-powerful Amir, and returns to England a hero. The bearer of amazing stories, he is unwitting emissary to and from both nations, neither of which can see how his impressions will change their worlds. And there is Bella Garraway, whose upper-class, predictable life will be wholly undone – leaving her with nothing, and then everything – when her path crosses Burnes’s. Around them, a superbly wrought cast of characters: English, Russian, Indian, Afghan, Persian – a shifting universe of men and women, the powerful and the pawns, caught in a vertex of history.
Spanning a decade and moving between London and Calcutta, St. Petersburg and Kabul, The Mulberry Empire is a brilliant synthesis of fact and imagination, as rich in the details of history and place as it is in the complexities and drama of human nature. It is an expectedly timely, masterful novel of fidelity and dreams, belief and chance, an epic of empires built and lost, and built again.”
Giveaway Info: 1 hardcover copy. Open to all. Ends November 22, 2009.
Hello, my name is Arleigh... welcome to my book review site! Here you will find author guest posts, book news, reviews and various articles on the genre. My favorite author is Jean Plaidy, of whom I have built a 
Mozi Esmes Mommy
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 11:16 am:
This looks fascinating – I love Asian history…
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
Katy
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 11:35 am:
This sounds really interesting.
srfbluemama at gmail dot com
Lynn Irwin Stewart
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 11:56 am:
Count me in! My e-mail is on my profile!
Aarti
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 1:17 pm:
Please count me in! My email is booklustblogger [at] gmail [dot] com.
Marg
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 2:15 pm:
Pick me! My email is in my profile.
Valorie
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 3:37 pm:
I’d love to win!
Carla Ribeiro
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 4:21 pm:
Count me in, please!
mariag
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 4:35 pm:
I would love to win this one.
Ani d'Onfrio
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 5:01 pm:
Would love to add this to my book collection. Please count me in.
Wanda
on Nov 8th, 2009
@ 7:22 pm:
I would love to be entered in your draw. Thanks!
Devaki Khanna
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 1:07 am:
This is a truly amazing book that vividly brought to life the period of the First Afghan War. I could not help but notice the cockiness of the British–their certainty that they would defeat the less technologically advanced Afghans–and how rudely this is shattered by the Afghan Amir’s son, who harasses the British survivors as they flee to India. Afghanistan is not an easy country to conquer and hold–ask the Mughals!
Ruby
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 3:24 am:
Please enter me, i’d love to read this historical fiction book!
rubs.escalona [at] gmail.com
Mystica
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 7:27 am:
You give away such gorgeous books. Thank you for your generosity. I am a follower as well. Please count me in.
Lara
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 9:17 am:
sounds like an interesting book. would love to get one copy, count me in.
laraa.corona [at] gmai.com
Tea
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 10:14 am:
I love to read THE MULBERRY EMPIRE.
Tea
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 10:15 am:
I would love to read THE MULBERRY EMPIRE. Sorry about the two posts.
teakettle58atyahoodotcom
Sandra K321
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 10:24 am:
I would like to be entered into your drawing for this book. I enjoy historical and historical fiction works.
Amanda
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 12:55 pm:
O wow! This is going on my TBR wish list. Thanks for the giveaway!
nycbookgirl at gmail dot com
Teresa W.
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 1:45 pm:
Sounds good, I’d like to be included!
Jenny
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 4:52 pm:
This is an aspect of history I have never read about. I’d like to be entered to win!
jdq1175@aol.com
zibilee
on Nov 9th, 2009
@ 5:32 pm:
Sounds like a very interesting read, I’d love the chance to be entered in the giveaway! Thanks for making it available!
zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net
Sue
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 12:57 am:
Thanks for the giveaway!
s.mickelson at gmail dot com
karen k
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 2:03 pm:
I would LOVE to read this book…
karen k
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com
nocas82
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 2:18 pm:
Please count me in.
inesgneves[at]gmail[dot]com
Wanda
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 2:39 pm:
I would love to be entered in your draw. Thanks.
Fiona Robyn
on Nov 10th, 2009
@ 3:36 pm:
Hello Arleigh – I’m a British author and a fellow member of Bookblogs, and I wanted to invite you (and your readers) to participate in my Blogsplash – there’s more information at http://www.fionarobyn.com/thawblogsplash.htm. Thanks for listening!
Heather S
on Nov 11th, 2009
@ 11:21 am:
This looks like a great book, I would la la LOVE to win! xo
Strangelove
on Nov 11th, 2009
@ 4:56 pm:
That first paragraph is absolutely captivating!
:O
carlos_durao AT hotmail DOT com
Maria D
on Nov 11th, 2009
@ 4:56 pm:
Do count me in, please!
dr.strangelove.vs.citizen.kane
@
gmail.com
melanie
on Nov 11th, 2009
@ 7:15 pm:
I’d love to read some of the backstory to what’s going on in Afghanistan — thanks!
teabird17 ^at^ yahoo dot com
Beth
on Nov 12th, 2009
@ 12:20 pm:
This looks great! Please enter me!
BethsBookReviewBlog AT gmail DOT com
Edu Chico
on Nov 14th, 2009
@ 4:40 pm:
Oh, another great giveaway!
educhico AT gmail DOT com
Jafantunes
on Nov 14th, 2009
@ 4:42 pm:
Fantastic!
jafantunes(at)sapo(.)pt
Cavalier
on Nov 14th, 2009
@ 4:51 pm:
Oh, goody!
o_rei_de_havana[@]hotmail[.]com
Evelyn
on Nov 14th, 2009
@ 10:30 pm:
Sounds good! Please enter me!
Aik
on Nov 14th, 2009
@ 10:31 pm:
I’d love to read this book! Thanks!
Tokemise
on Nov 19th, 2009
@ 9:31 am:
This looks like a very unique read. I’d like to enter. Thanks
tokemise@hotmail.com
Belinda M
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 11:41 am:
sounds like a good book. Please include me in your giveaway
bluebelle0367(at)hotmail(dot)com
Caty
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 5:00 pm:
Anothe good one!
catarina DOT magoito AT gmail DOT com
Susy
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 5:05 pm:
Wonderful! Count me in!
39(dot)5susy(at)gmail(dot)com
Mil
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 5:21 pm:
One more trying his luck!
goncalo.mil
@
gmail.com
J Dias
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 5:23 pm:
Thanks for this chance!
joanapatriciadias [@gmail.com]
Tanita
on Nov 22nd, 2009
@ 5:34 pm:
Good luck everyone!
tanitalves [@] sapo [.] pt