A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, 1841-1842

"Lady Sale was the wife of a very senior British soldier called Brigadier Sale during the first Anglo-Afghan war. They were in Kabul when the whole thing collapsed. The British commander was William Elphinstone, who, it was said, was mostly laid up with gout and couldn’t really function – it’s no wonder that we made such a mess of it. Lady Sale watches all this and this book is her diary of all the things that went wrong. She also could have called her book, “Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan”. She largely blames the incompetence of the senior British staff. Elphinstone was unwell for much of the time and she didn’t think much of his number two, who was called Shelton. The book is really a very caustic view of what was going on. She really did know the inside story. Yes, when the British did withdraw from Kabul, the Afghans demanded hostages and Lady Sale became one of them. She was a virtual prisoner, but she survived and was eventually released. She was a very tough old bird. I think that’s absolutely right. Her husband was pretty thick but very brave. But I think she was even tougher than him."