’The Man Who Would Be King’ is an enormously popular story by the legendary British writer, poet and journalist Rudyard Kipling. In the tale, the narrator – a British newspaperman in India modeled after Kipling himself – meets two ex-military rogues named Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan who have grand ambitions. They plan to load up on weapons, travel to the remote Afghan kingdom of Kafiristan and – through cunning and military force – become monarchs. When Carnehan returns alone two years later, he tells the narrator a fantastical tale: he and Dravot did become kings – even considered gods – only to watch the entire scheme fall apart after a bit of hubris proves their mortality. Famously adapted to the screen in 1975 by director John Huston, ’The Man Who Would Be King’ is among the most popular and beloved adventure tales of colonial British life in Asia and is presented here in its original and unabridged format.
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Rudyard Kipling (1876-1936) was one of the most popular writers of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. A novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist, Kipling was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India while the country was still under colonial rule. Much of his fiction is set in and inspired by the land of his birth. He is best known for his the two novels of the Jungle Book series as well as the books Kim, Captains Courageous, the collection of Just So Stories and his many works of short fiction, which includes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The Man Who Would Be King. His most famous poems include ’Mandalay’ (1890), ’Gunga Din’ (1890), ’The White Man’s Burden’ (1899), and ’If-’(1910). After being educated in Great Britain and returning to India, Kipling immediately began work in newspapers, banging out stories at a furious clip and, in whatever spare time he can, churning out a vast number of poems and short stories. He soon graduated to longer works and as he did so, his fame grew larger and larger. By 1907, his literary reputation had grown to such an astonishing extent that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature at the age of 41. He was not only the first English-language speaker to receive the prize but, to this day, Kipling remains the youngest writer ever to have received this award). Though not without controversy (for his pro-colonial views of India and Ireland), Kipling’s works have never been out of print and his works have been adapted into dozens of stage, screen and television productions over the years. Kipling died of a perforated ulcer in 1936 at the age of 70 and his ashes are interred in ’Poets’ Corner’ of Westminster Abbey in London.
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