Ben MacIntyre's better-than-fiction tale of 19th-century madcap adventures in Afghanistan and Central Asia draws on the heretofore unpublished diaries of the soldier, spy, doctor, naturalist, traveler, and writer, Josiah Harlan. Though tightly focused on the escapades of the American folk hero, the book reverberates with echoes of both Kipling and the current situation of America in Afghanistan.  (CAS110, $14.00)