Fire and Sword in the Sudan; a Personal Narrative of Fighting and Serving the Dersivhes, 1879-1895

Slatin, Rudolf Carl Pasha and Maj. F.R. Wingare, Translator

Published by Edward Arnold, London/New York, 1896

About this Item

Octavo. xviii, (1), 636 pages. plates, 1 folding map showing the extent of Mahdist Influence in 1895, and a folding plan of Khartum and Omdurman. Translated by Major F.C. Wingate. OCLC records only 2 copies of the large popular edition, University of Michigan and one in Israel, (the smaller editions have 416 pages). The best edition with many details of the Sudan issues. Slatin was an Austrian officer in the service of the Egyptian government in the Sudan, who got caught up in the Mahdist rebellion. Leading the government forces in Darfur until forced to capitulate, he became a captive, and involuntary adviser, of the Mahdi. After being caught trying to communicate with the government forces in Khartoum he was for a while thrown in irons; being eventually pardoned he ended up in a curious position in the entourage of the Mahdi's successor, Abdullahi*. Valued for his knowledge of Egyptian affairs and European languages, as well as his watchmaking skills, he was also deeply mistrusted, because he was quite correctly suspected of lacking sympathy with the Mahdist cause, and of plotting to escape, which he finally did, with the help of the British and Austrian delegations in Cairo, in 1895, after twelve years' captivity. After the overthrow of the Mahdist state, he returned to the Sudan as an administrator in Anglo-Egyptian service until the First World War. The book is a memoir covering the time from his stationing in the Sudan in 1879 until his escape in 1895. You can't accuse him of being an excellent writer, but it's an invaluable historical source and very interesting as an insider's view. Towards the end of the book he makes some recommendations about how the outside world should act towards the Mahdist state; in short, he calls for invasion and reestablishment of Egyptian control. This is of course approximately what happened, and his appeal has been credited with swaying opinion in the British government towards action. He was quite wrong, however, in supposing that the Mahdist troops had lost their fanaticism and would not strongly defend Abdullahi's cause - in the event, they generally resisted Kitchener's forces with suicidal courage. A fine copy stave for a very small stain to upper corner of frontispiece. Internally fresh, bound in a modern green leather trimmed in gilt and blind, , raised bands gilt, lettered and decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, housed within a cloth covered slipcase with the original front cover mounted as a pastedown. An exceptionally nice copy with the previous owner's name of J.F. Hinkle dated [18]97. Who was an active factor in administering the affairs of government and is widely recognized as a Democratic leader. A native of Missouri, he moved to New Mexico from Texas in 1885 and established the Penasco Cattle Co. which he was connected until 1891. He owned 25,000 cattle on the range and his was one of the largest cattle ranches in the Territory. Seller Inventory # 031075

Bibliographic Details

Title: Fire and Sword in the Sudan; a Personal ...

Publisher: Edward Arnold, London/New York

Publication Date: 1896

Edition: First Edition.