In the early 1880s the Mahdi unleashed a spectacularly successful jihadist uprising against Egyptian colonial rule in the Sudan. Early in1884 Cairo bowed to British pressure to withdraw. Beyond the Reach of Empire describes how Major General Charles Gordon was despatched to evacuate Khartoum and turn the Sudan over to self-rule. It goes on to explain how and why the mission backfired, and then homes in on Sir Garnet Wolseley's planning and execution of the long-delayed Gordon Relief Expedition which arrived, according to popular myth, only two days after the city had fallen and Gordon had been killed.

Colonel Mike Snook's narrative is characterized by scrupulous attention to detail, an instinctive grasp of the period, and an intimate understanding of its setting. The author argues compellingly that the Khartoum campaign was mismanaged from the outset. The outcome is the exoneration of Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, the man cast in the role of scapegoat, and an indictment of Wolseley's generalship over the course of the last and most deeply flawed campaign of his career.

Full review available at http://www.warhistoryonline.com/reviews/beyond-reach-empire-wolseleys-failed-campaign-save-gordon-khartoum-review-mark-barnes.html (please copy and paste into your browser)

As featured in Wye Local Magazine.

• Front Cover
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Plates
• List of Maps and Tables
• Glossary
• Preface
• Conventions Followed in the Text
• Chronology
• Prologue
• Chapter 1 All Men Worship the Rising Sun
• Chapter 2 Quandary
• Chapter 3 Novel Expedients
• Chapter 4 Delays and Decisions
• Chapter 5 Leap in the Dark
• Chapter 6 Go Strong into the Desert
• Chapter 7 Approach to Battle
• Chapter 8 Under Fire
• Chapter 9 The Valley of the Shadow
• Chapter 10 England’s Far and Honour a Name
• Chapter 11 Walking Amongst Vipers
• Chapter 12 Endless Confusion
• Chapter 13 The Fight to the Nile
• Chapter 14 The Fort of the Infidels
• Chapter 15 Boy’s Own
• Chapter 16 Too Late: Lies, Myth and Reality
• Epilogue
• Appendix A Composition of the Nile Expedition
• Appendix B Organization of the Camel Corps
• Appendix C Movement Plan to Ambukol and Korti
• Appendix D Order of Battle: Abu Klea, 17 January 1885
• Appendix E Order of Battle: Abu Kru, 19 January 1885
• Appendix F Casualty Return: Abu Klea, 17 January 1885
• Appendix G Casualty Return: Abu Kru & Metemmeh, 19–21 January 1885
• Appendix H Lt. Col. J. D. H. Stewart’s Notes on the Suakin–Berber Route
• Notes
• Bibliography