This historian says he was almost killed by a sniper bullet while he was doing research in Kandahar for his latest book 
The Return of a King", set in Afghanistan.
Who is the author?   
 [+ Show Answer] 
William Dalrymple. The book is about events during the first Anglo-Afghan war in the mid-1840s. 
More on this incident here.  
  This day last year: Q.491