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The River War : An Account Of The Reconquest Of The Sudan Paperback – October 28, 2008

by Winston S. Churchill (Author)

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The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan is an 1899 book written by Winston Churchill while he was still an officer in the British army. The book provides a history of the British involvement in the Sudan and the conflict between the British forces led by Lord Kitchener and Dervish forces led by Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, heir to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad who had embarked on a campaign to conquer Egypt, to drive out the non-Muslim infidels and make way for the second coming of the Islamic Mahdi. The River War was Churchill's second published book after The Story of the Malakand Field Force, and originally filled two volumes with over 1000 pages in 1899. The River War was subsequently abridged to one volume in 1902.

The River War : An Account Of The Reconquest Of The Sudan

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Churchill wrote this account of the campaign at Omdurman in Arabia in 1899 when he was still soldiering for the queen. It was his first major historical work and is still considered one of his most riveting.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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10 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (October 28, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440451311
ISBN-13: 978-1440451317
Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.5 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,303,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #155 in Books > History > Africa > Sudan

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Top Customer Reviews

Remarkable Lessons for the 21st Century

ByNewt Gingrichon July 22, 2002

This is a remarkable book that Robert Kaplan's Warrior Politics (reviewed earlier) led me to read. Kaplan begins his book with a glowing description of the River War and argues that those of us trying to deal with 21st century Afghanistan, Africa, Bosnia, etc., would do well to study the lessons in Churchill's report.
Churchill was a British officer who wrangled his way into Kitchener's campaign up the Nile through connections in high places and against Kitchener's wishes. Kitchener was angry that a journalist-officer of Churchill's age (early 20s) would even presume to render judgment on the Generals and the government.
Churchill recounts the rise of the Mahdi, the defeat of Gordon at Khartoum, the decision of the government to retake the Sudan, and the careful preparations by Kitchener (in some ways a forerunner to Schwarzkopf's massing overwhelming force against Iraq in 1991).
There are a number of lessons in this book. Churchill talks constantly of "scientific warfare" and the inability of the Mahdist forces to cope with it. By "scientific warfare" he meant the telegraph, the railroad, the armored steamboat with cannon, the Maxim gun (an early machine gun), and the disciplined infantry squares. It is helpful to be reminded that predators, B-2s, and Special Forces on horseback with laser designators are simply our generation's version of the "scientific war".
Churchill also points out how few British troops were engaged in the campaign. The majority of the battalions were Egyptian and Sudanese with British officers. Only a minority was British. On the other hand, it was British communications, British logistics, British gunboats, and British firepower that made them dominant. These were Egyptian and Sudanese troops officered by the British and trained to British standards, a lesson for Afghanistan and elsewhere. In one expedition there were 1,300 men of whom only 7 were British.
This is a very useful book as we think about the complexities of the 21st century third world and its problems of poverty, violence, disorganization, and ruthless petty tyrants.

22 comments 127 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Wonderful Early Churchill

ByD. W. Caseyon December 18, 2001

Winston Churchill is one of the greatest figures of world history; this book, written when Churchill was in his twenties, is a wonderful book that considers the reconquest of the Sudan both from a first person point of view (because Churchill was there), and from a broader historical perspective.
Churchill begins the work some 13 years before the war, with the killing of the legendary General Gordon in Khartoum at the hands of the fanatical Dervishes. Churchill lays out in detail the reaction in Britain, the political reasons for why no action was taken at the time, and then goes into a wonderful segue about the intervening years of the wars of the Mahdi and his successor, the Khalifa.
The book is painstakingly researched; and the young Churchill is obviously trying to "get it right"; interjecting his opinions where it is relevant and introducing facts and tables where it is necessary to make his case.
The military buildup, the logistical and technical feat of the railroad built to support the army, the manufacture and employment of river gunboats, and the precise orders of battle and description of equipment -- these are details that show Churchill's immense grasp not only of the broad strategic picture but also a consummate mastery of the details of nineteenth century soldiering. One can see at work the mind that made Churchill a valuable cabinet member in the following thirty years, and an invaluable Prime Minister in wartime.
The prose style is a bit heavy, and Churchill's writing is not at the same level that won him the Nobel Prize, but it is a fine early work about an interesting, if little known, war.
The book itself also caused a rift between Kitchener and Churchill that was never really mended; as a result, Churchill's fall from the Admiralty and the failure of Gallipoli may have had this book as a very small cause. But this is not the book's fault!
A very good work of military history, and an excellent insight into the incredible mind of Winston Churchill.

0Comment 56 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

It's an old book but the prose is excellent and the lessons of history do not become obsolete ...

It's an old book but the prose is excellent and the lessons of history do not become obsolete with time.

Published 1 month ago by Philip J Paustian

Great product and it came on time

Thank you! Great product and it came on time, too.

Published 10 months ago by Aborn Pharmacy

Really detailed and thourghly documented.

Really detailed and thourghly documented.
Most interesting for all of the expense that went in to the fighting a logistics nightmare

Published 11 months ago by Leonard Lanoue

Five Stars

Churchill at his early best.

Published 1 year ago by William VanBeuning

This is Churchill at his best! You can almost hear that sonorous voice as ...

This is Churchill at his best ! You can almost hear that sonorous voice as you read about the last cavalry charge in history >I've been to Khartoum and Omdurman .Read more

Published 1 year ago by Gabe Michel

Good background on events which preceded WW1

A bit slow but fascinating history written by The Man who was there and lived it. Good background on events which preceded WW1.

Published 1 year ago by Nick

Excellent. Well written as were all of Churchill's books

Excellent. Well written as were all of Churchill's books.

Published 1 year ago by Gordon and Hester Paterson

A very well written,though wordy, account of the Fight for the Sudan against the most evil Islamic hord ever assembled.

Okay, I know.; It's Churchill! But, God love him, he does have a way with words and he loves to use them, lots of them. But, the accuracy is spellbinding.Read more

Published on September 20, 2014 by Mike3746

Five Stars

A model of good military history writing about a war that I had never heard of.

Published on July 17, 2014 by Bruce Horsfield

Get the one with the maps! ISBN 9781420933802

The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan was Winston Churchill's second book, long out of print but brought back by print on demand.Read more

Published on March 28, 2013 by Thomas E. Baldwin

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