The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories

Rudyard Kipling

Aug 2009 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Rebecca Burns

About this audiobook

Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" is one of literature's greatest and most famous adventure stories. This stirring tale of two happy-go-lucky British ne'er-do-wells trying to carve out their own kingdom in the remote mountains of Afghanistan has also proved over time to be a work of penetrating and lasting political insight-amidst its raucous humor and swashbuckling bravado is a devastatingly astute dissection of imperialism and its heroic pretensions. Written when he was only twenty-two years old, the tale also features some of Kipling's most crystalline prose and one of the most beautifully rendered, spectacularly exotic settings he ever used. Best of all, it features two of his most unforgettable characters: the ultra-vivid Cockneys Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravot, who impart to the story its ultimate, astonishing twist. Also included in this collection are "Wee Willie Winkie," "The Drums of the Fore and Aft," "Mary Postgate," and "The Maltese Cat."

About the author

Short-story writer, novelist, and poet Rudyard Kipling was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and was hailed as a literary heir to Charles Dickens. His most popular works include Kim, Just So Stories, and The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories.

An acclaimed narrator, Rebecca Burns has recorded such titles as Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, and Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.