The rugged mountains of 19th-century Afghanistan serve as the backdrop for this humorous and action-packed tale of two happy-go-lucky Britons who take over a remote kingdom. The colorful inhabitants and beautiful prose enrich a beautifully powerful ending.

Kipling was one of the most popular writers in England, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known." In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date.

Among other honours, he was sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, all of which he declined.