Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine
Anna Della Subin
Granta, £20, 462 pages
In Rudyard Kipling’s short story The Man Who Would Be King, two British soldiers-of-fortune, Daniel Dravot and “Peachy” Tolliver Carnahan, hit upon a foolproof plan to improve their financial lot. They will travel into Kafiristan – an area better known today as contemporary Afghanistan – and set themselves up as kings. Their plan goes well; rather too well, in fact. As an astonished Dravot is able to say, “That’s just the beginning … they think we’re gods!” Alas, hubris overreaches them. Just as Dravot is about to be wed to the region’s queen, she bites him in a moment of panic, revealing that he is “neither god nor devil but a man!” Disgrace and death ensue.
