Fabulous Read

ONE of the most remarkable, entertaining and informative books I have read in a long time is Fire And Sword In The Sudan by Rudolf Slatin.

He was an Austrian-born junior officer who, becoming known to General Charles Gordon (of Gordon of Khartoum fame), was appointed Governor of Dara, a region of the Sudan, at the age of 21 in 1879.

That put him in the firing line when a local religious leader was proclaimed the promised Mahdi, leading a revolt against foreign - mainly Egyptian - rule in Sudan.

The book tells of Slatin's battles and skirmishes against the Mahdi's forces, particularly the feared dervishes, how he pretended to convert to Islam to inspire his troops, and was eventually captured.

Slatin was held prisoner for 11 years, alternately experiencing torture and relatively favourable treatment.

Hefty - more than 400 pages - and brilliant

The story of his years of fighting, imprisonment and eventual escape is about as exciting as such a book can get.

It will be of particular value to anyone with an interest in Victorian history, colonial wargaming and/or the interaction of educated Westerners with a mass of less-educated, but more deeply religious, Muslims.