14,182 words (60–75 minutes)
Genre(s): Adventure, Tragedy
First published in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and other Eerie Tales, 1888

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In this darkly ironic tale of ambition and delusion, two British adventurers, Dravot and Carnehan, scheme to become kings of an uncharted region in Afghanistan—Kafiristan. Masquerading as gods, they carve out a kingdom with cunning and bravado. But their rise to power is shadowed by hubris, cultural blindness, and the unraveling of a dangerous lie. Told through the eyes of a jaded journalist, Kipling’s story probes the line between imperial fantasy and fatal consequence. The Man Who Would Be King is both an exhilarating adventure and a haunting cautionary tale about the cost of playing god.