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Afghanistan: The Great Game - A Personal View by Rory Stewart

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Rory Stewart

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Iain Scollay

Afghanistan: The Great Game - A Personal View by Rory Stewart: Episode 1

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Episode 1

BBC Two - Afghanistan: The Great Game - A Personal View by Rory Stewart, Episode 1

How control of Afghanistan was seen by Victorian Britain as key to the security of India.

An account of Britain's interventions in Afghanistan in the 19th century. They arose from the fear that Russia was considering invading the country as a prelude to attacking India.

Rory Stewart tells the story of British interventions in Afghanistan in the 19th century, when the British Empire became obsessed with the idea that their rival, Russia, was considering the invasion of Afghanistan as a staging post for an attack on British India. 

It was a period of mutual suspicion and paranoia that later became known as The Great Game. Afghanistan was perceived by Victorian Britain, as it's believed to be today, to be an immediate threat to British national security. 

In this first film, Rory Stewart tells the story of the decision-making that led to the first British invasion of Afghanistan, and the three Anglo-Afghan wars fought in this era. And he tells the story of Afghanistan's unlikely reaction to this period. When an Afghan-elite made a futile attempt to impose western-inspired ideas and modernity on the country.

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Factual: History

Rory Stewart tells the story of foreign intervention in Afghanistan.

Rory Stewart tells the story of foreign intervention in Afghanistan from the 19th century to the present day.

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Afghanistan: The Great Game - A Personal View by Rory Stewart

Episode 1

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