The Tribesmen's Treasure

About the Book

"Dodo" Dillon, seminar-addicted retired American diplomat who teaches at Cherry Hill Christian College in western Pennsylvania, narrates most of the story. He undertakes to trace antiquities stolen from the Kabul Museum after the end of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His search puts him on the trail of Khushal Khan, a Khattak Pathan outlaw, also a septuagenarian. The chase leads all over Pakistan's North-West Frontier: Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, Waziristan, Chitral, and Swat. Tribal feuds and violent shoot-outs mark the contest between the two old men. The machinations of unscrupulous foreign dealers in illegal antiquities complicate the plot. The two antagonists finally meet and negotiate a settlement.

The frail but unstoppable Dodo is at his best treading loved and familiar ground on the romantic and turbulent North-West Frontier. Readers will soon realize how alike are Dodo and Khushal Khan. Older folks will sympathize with Dodo's constant need to take pills, his physical frailty, and his unreliable memory. Adventure-lovers of all ages will delight in the fast action.

About the Author

James W. Spain, born in Chicago in 1926 not far from the Englewood Rail Yards, grew up during the Great Depression, and was educated at the University of Chicago and Columbia University. He spent most of his life as a career diplomat, serving as U.S. Ambassador in Tanzania, the United Nations, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. He is the author of three books on the Pathans of Pakistan; American Diplomacy in Turkey; a diplomatic memoir, In Those Days ; a book of short stories, Innocents of the Latter Day; and several “Dodo Dillon” tales about the adventures of a retired American diplomat in exotic corners of the world.