The King's Shadow

"An enthralling addition to the genre . . . Richardson’s colorful and compelling account gives this forgotten figure [explorer Charles Masson] his due."—The New York Times

"This is a jewel of a book. It rescues Masson from history's cutting-room floor and bring him richly, ripely to life."—The Sunday Times

"Utterly brilliant."—The Guardian

"Immensely enjoyable . . . [Richardson] clearly picked up Masson's love of storytelling along the way, as well as his skill for drawing the reader in with a play of smoke and mirrors."—BBC History Magazine

"A brilliant and evocative biography, written with consummate scholarship, great style and wit. Through the study of one man, Richardson illuminates an entire world."—The Daily Telegraph

"A lucid, thrilling, and poetic narrative that does justice to the subject. [Richardson] is deft at vividly portraying characters in a few well-chosen words."—Literary Review

"Mesmerizing and informative, The King's Shadow is narrative history at its best."—Shelf Awareness

"In one of history's truly important, but nearly unknown, adventure stories, The King's Shadow opens an incredible world of scholars and scoundrels in nineteenth-century Afghanistan through the weirdly obsessive search for the trail of Alexander the Great by Charles Masson, a military deserter from the British East India Company who became one of the founders of archaeology. This painstaking research has transformed into a fascinating, and sometimes insane, epic. Edmund Richardson's first book leaves me already wanting another one from him.”—Jack Weatherford, author of the New York Times bestseller Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

"One of the great stories of archaeology, exploration and espionage told in full for the first time—and brought to life with passion, style, scholarship, empathy and anger. The story of Charles Masson's desertion from the East India Company and his extraordinary travels and discoveries in Afghanistan have been told before. But until now never has anyone uncovered the full, extraordinary, heart-breaking truth either about his remarkable life or his tragic death and burial in an unmarked grave. Edmund Richardson is a new star whose painstaking research and evocative prose has resulted in an utterly brilliant biography. It deserves all the prizes and acclaim it will undoubtedly win."—William Dalrymple, author of The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire, finalist for the Cundill History Prize

"The King's Shadow feels like fiction—a thrilling lost world of kingdoms, spies, opportunists, and an unforgettable hero in search of glory and riches—and yet it's all real. This is hidden history at its finest: you may have never heard of Charles Masson, but it's safe to say that he changed the world. Richardson's debut is nothing short of extraordinary."—Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century

"There is something eerily prescient about reading the adventures of Charles Masson—if that is his real name (it’s not)—as he follows in the faint footsteps of Alexander the Great across Afghanistan, that most exacting of places that even he could not subdue. Richardson’s Masson slips and slides across the unforgiving landscape like some brilliant chameleon, changing names and professions with an instinct that makes for irresistible reading as he is thrown from one predicament to the next like some character in a flickering Republic serial, whether it be the unearthing of a golden, priceless artifact to escaping a madman’s Chamber of Blood. Hewn with an academic’s careful skill and shaped into an astounding story, Masson’s strange tale—above his many roles of obsessed archaeologist, agent, spy, and more—is of a man whose own footsteps take on their own legendary status in a land that even he knew could never truly be conquered."—Brad Ricca, Edgar Award-nominated author of True Raiders and Mrs. Sherlock Holmes

"Captivating biography of an archaeological pioneer sure to please history fans and students of the spy game."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This well-researched account restores an explorer to his rightful place in history."—Publishers Weekly