More About The Mahdi

TWO years ago I read a book that I described as "remarkable," "brilliant" and "about as exciting as such a book can get."

That was Fire And Sword In The Sudan by Rudolf Slatin, an Austrian-born officer who, at the age of 21, was appointed governor of one of the Sudan's regions by General Charles Gordon.

Slatin had, to say the least, an eventful time, pretending to convert to Islam to inspire his troops, and eventually being captured by the so-called Mahdi, experiencing 11 years as a prisoner, before making a daring escape.

A year after that book I read Winston Churchill's The River War - An Historical Account Of The Reconquest Of The Soudan [sic].

As I pointed out, some of the early pages were familiar as they recapped much of Slatin's testimony, but nevertheless I found the book "mostly new, exciting and very entertaining."

And now I have completed a hattrick, thanks to Ten Years' Captivity In The Mahdi's Camp, 1882-1892, by Joseph Ohrwalder and Sir Francis Wingate.

Ohrwalder was an Austrian priest, captured by the Mahdists, who was helped to escape a decade later by Wingate, who held various positions with the Anglo-Egyptian authorities.

Wingate was instrumental in publishing Ohrwalder's account of his ordeal, for which the rest of us can be very grateful, for it is compelling reading.

Not just entertaining, but full of information abut the Mahdist forces - information that should prove useful to anyone interested in wargaming this period

I cannot claim I have ever had a particular interest in British involvement in Sudan (modern practice is to no longer call the country The Sudan, just as Ukraine is no longer called The Ukraine, and just as, surely, The Netherlands will one day be known simply as Netherlands).

In some ways I wish I were more interested, because these three books would make a great starting point for running a campaign.

Ohrwalder's gives much detail that he did not witness first-hand, but came to him from Mahdist troops and from the occasional friendly visitor - often a fellow captive.

But perhaps the most fascinating parts of the book are his tales of life as a prisoner, including how the atmosphere among the Mahdists changed as their fortunes in war rose and fell.