Osprey Campaign 29 : Omdurman 1898 : Kitchener's Victory in the Sudan

This final book completing Donald Featherstone's Sudan-Egypt trilogy tells the story of the conquest of the Dervish Empire: the Dongola-Berber campaign, Firket and Atbara, culminating at Omdurman, one of the great desert battles in the imperial drama of the Victorian era. Here hordes of native warriors were set against British discipline and firepower, gunboats on the Nile, a dramatic cavalry charge and Kitchener, the Sirdar, as conqueror. The opposing armies and their leaders are investigated, showing that the fanaticism of the Ansar was no substitute for the modern weaponry of the Anglo-Egyptian army. The appearance and use of the Maxim machine gun, first introduced into the British army in 1891, is studied, as is the basic weaponry of the Mahdist warriors and the personal weapons of British troops involved in the campaign. The latter's uniform is also examined: the red jackets of previous engagements now having been dropped for a Khaki field uniform. Furthermore the leaders of both sides are also looked at, including the severe and ruthless Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener. Contemporary illustrations and colourful graphics bring the whole campaign vividly to life, and photographs from the period also do much to give the reader a 'feel' for the period.

Contents

• The Sudan after the fall of Khartoum
• The Opposing Armies
• The Anglo-Egyptian Army
• The Ansar - The Mahdist Army
• The Dongola-Berber Campaign
• The Atbara Campaign
• The Advance to Omdurman
• The Battle of Omdurman
• Gordon Avenged
• The Battlefield Today
• Chronology
• A Guide to Further Reading
• Wargaming the Campaigns of 1896-98 in the Sudan