‘The Man Who Would Be King’ by Rudyard Kipling

Two 19^th Century British adventurers (and Freemasons) in India decide to head to Afghanistan and set themselves up as regional monarchs. Kingsley Amis described it as “grossly overrated”, but as always he was wrong – this is proper swashbuckling Boys’ Own stuff with a clear message about the morality and sustainability of British colonialism. There’s a cracking 1975 movie version of it starring Michael Caine and Sean Connery.

First published in The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Tales, AH Wheeler & Co, 1888. Available at The Kipling Society, here