King -- of the Khyber Rifles, by Talbot Mundy (trade pb)

Talbot Mundy -- one of the greatest adventure fiction writers of the 20th century -- reached the epitome of his talent with "King -- of the Khyber Ribles," the thrilling tale of Athelstan King, a secret agent for the British Raj at the beginning of the First World War. Heavily influenced both by Mundy's own unsuccessful career in India and by his interest in theosophy, it describes his adventures among the tribes of the north with the mystical woman adventurer Yasmini and the Turkish mullah Muhammed Anim.