Afghan Expedition - Notes and Sketches from the First British Afghan War of 1839-1840 : 9781590482803 : 11 May 2007 : James Atkinson travelled to Afghanistan in 1838. A superb artist and famous scholar who had translated Persias national epic, this renaissance man had been designated the Superintending Surgeon of a massive British invasion force resolved to place a sympathetic ruler on the Afghan throne. The ill-fated British force fought its way through the Bolan Pass, swept through Kandahar and conquered Kabul. Soon afterwards Atkinson was released from duty, thereby escaping the catastrophe which awaited his comrades. During the subsequent rebellion the British political agent was beheaded and an estimated 16,000 British soldiers and their dependents were slaughtered in a week by the vengeful Afghans. After the English captured Kabul, Atkinsons eyewitness account of these turbulent events was rushed into print while British interest was at its peak. The astonishing true chronicle of