The River War

  The River War

An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan

By Winston Churchill

Book Description :

First published in 1899 and revised for the 1902 edition by its author Winston Churchill, this history of the River War in Sudan vividly chronicles the military campaign that altered the destinies of England, Egypt, and the Arabian peoples in northeast Africa. More by accident than design, in Churchill’s view, England was drawn into the affairs of Egypt in the 1880s, for at the same historical moment that the English, under Lord Cromer, were granted virtually sovereign power to establish a sound government in Egypt and to stimulate its national economy, the Mahdi rebelled in the Egyptian suzerainty of Sudan. Violence and bloodshed ensued, and the English soon found themselves embroiled alongside their Egyptian ally in a bitter conflict with the fiercely nationalistic Mahdi—a conflict that culminated in the massacre of General Charles Gordon at Khartoum and the emergence of the fanatical regime known as the Dervish Empire. In this illuminating volume, Churchill not only dramatically relates the catastrophic events in Sudan’s 1880s, but also places them in the context of Sudanese history. So it is that his subsequent account of the reconquest and pacification of Sudan by a mixed Anglo-Egyptian force under the command of Sir Herbert Kitchener weds history to destiny, as the outcome of the River War for decades would link Great Britain to the uneasy future of Egypt and Sudan.

PUBLISHED: 1899                                                                                                                                                              PAGES: 288

Book Excerpt :

During the second century of the Mohammedan era, when the
inhabitants of Arabia went forth to conquer the world, one adventurous army struck south. The first pioneers were followed at intervals by continual immigrations of Arabs not only from Arabia but also across the deserts from Egypt and Marocco. The element thus introduced has spread and is spreading throughout the Soudan, as water soaks into a dry sponge. The aboriginals absorbed the invaders they could not repel. The stronger race imposed its customs and language on the negroes. The vigour of their blood sensibly altered the facial appearance of the Soudanese. For more than a thousand years the influence of Mohammedanism, ........

About Winston S. Churchill :        

                                                                       

Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) has been called 'the greatest Briton'. An international statesman, orator, biographer, historian, author and Nobel Prize winner, his works remain in print with the world's leading publishers. Educated at Harrow and Sandhurst, Winston spent several years in the army before becoming a newspaper correspondent and then an MP. His cabinet positions included First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of the First World War and later Chancellor of the Exchequer. Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940 and for five years led Britain though its 'finest hour'. Defeated in the July 1945 election, he was Leader of the Opposition until re-elected Prime Minister in 1951. He was knighted in 1953, the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He stepped down as Prime Minister in 1955 and remained an MP until 1964.