Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #725742 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Synopsis
Statesman, historian, and biographer, whose five years of war leadership (1940-45) secured him a central place in modern British history. Churchill is widely considered the greatest political figure in 20th-century Britain. In 1898 Churchill fought at the battle of Omdurman in Sudan, depicting his experiences in THE RIVER WAR

Customer Reviews

Churchillian Excellence
My copy of "The River War" is a battered 1960 copy purchased some years ago in a second hand bookshop. It is one of the handful of books that I have read more than twice. It is just so well written.

Bearing in mind that Winston Chruchill was present at the final Battle of Omdurman, he had a ringside seat in this "little war", actually taking part in a cavalry charge.

The book starts with a history of "the Soudan" as he writes it, and the early chapters cover the Gladstone and General Gordon story; essential to a total understanding of the problems in the Sudan at the end of the 19th century.

The bulk of the book covers the campaign by Sir H. Kitchener to push up the Nile with a railway, laid at the rate of a mile a day at times -(British railways eat your heart out). The logistic problems of water for men, camals, horses, and steam locomotives was huge.

Churchill`s turn of phrase is inimitable, and he carries the reader smoothly through all the twists and turns of the heroic story - heroic on both sides.

Some reader may be offended by the non-PC language used, such as "Mohammedan" for a follower of Islam, "savages", "inferior race" "fuzzy-wuzzie" etc, but the reader must remember that these words and phrases were quite acceptable at the time, and I reckon that in using them the author is not being insulting, but simply using the language of his times. This was written in 1902 if I remember correctly.

I suspect that more modern works on the subject are more balanced, and accurate, if only for 102 years of hindsight being available, (and more PC), but I can thouroughly recommend getting this book if you have the slightest interest in the subject. And come to think of it, even if you don`t.

"The River War" by Winston S. Chuchill
The Prime Classics 2005 edition, published by Wildside Non-fiction, of Churchill's account of the reconquest of the Sudan, is spoiled by the lack of maps and the lack of an index. This fascinating story is told superbly by a master of the English language who participated in the battle of Ondurman. In it Churchill refers the reader to maps, with which the visulisation and understanding of the events would have been greatly enhanced. I found the lack of them frustrating. Additionally, the lack of an index limits the use of this edition as source of reference. I found no description on the Amazon/Waterstones web-site to indicate the lack of these items, which I would expect from any serious historical account. My other readings of Churchill (The Second World War) have led me to expect such would be included by the author.