The death of General Gordon in Khartoum at the hand of the Dervishes, the followers of the fanatical Mahdi, is one of the most celebrated events in the history of the 19th Century. Equally dramatic and colorful, but perhaps less well-known, is the extraordinary battle fourteen years later in which Kitchener avenged the murder of Gordon at Omdurman, just across the Nile from Khartoum.

The story of the battle which followed, a clash between spears, swords and frenzied courage on the one hand and the grim application of rifle and gunboat fire on the other, is breathtaking, bizarre and beautifully handled by the author. Towards the climax came the last great cavalry charge in history, that of the 21st Lancers, made memorable by one of the young officers who led it, Winston Churchill.