EDITOR'S NOTE: This is from Vol. I #1 of THE COURIER reprinted here to provide a complete introduction to the period. For those who have been led astray by OSPREY, Tradition and Military Modeling and cannot get hold of back issues of Savage and Soldier, this is a brief guide to sources on the Sudan wars. Scholarly Studies Essential reading: P. M. Holt, The Mahdist State in the Sudan 1881-1898, Oxford University Press (OUP), 1958; 2nd (revised) ea., 1970 (now in paperback). R. O. Collins, The Southern Sudan 1883-1898, A Struggle for Control, Yale, 1962 (Mahdists and Belgians in the Southern Sudan). R. L. Hill, Egypt in the Sudan, 1820- 1881, OUP, 1959. Official and Contemporary History H. E. Colville, The Official History of the Sudan Campaigns, 2 vols., London, 1889. F. R. Wingate Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan, London, 1891 (reprinted with an introduction by Holt, Frank Cass, 1968). C. Royle, The Egyptian Campaigns, 1882-1885, 2 vole., London, 1886 (new and revised edition continued to December 1899, London, 1900). Churchill's The River War, which has gone through many editions, is a highly imaginative, but not always reliable account. The most detailed edition is the 2nd vol., first edition (1899). Officer's Accounts The best officers' accounts are: A. Preston (ed.), In Relief of Gordon, Lord Wolseley's Campaign Journal of the Khartoum Relief Expedition, 1884-1885, Hutchinson, 1967. (Desert Column): Count Gleichen, With the Camel Corps Up the Niles, London, 1886 & EP Publishing Ltd., 1975; C. W. Wilson, From Korti to Khartoum, London, 1886. (Nile Column): H. Brackenbury, The River Column, Edinburgh, 1885, W. F. Butler, The Campaign of the Cateracts, London, 1887. (Suakin): De Cossen, Days and Nights of Service with Sir Gerald Graham's Field Force, London, 1886; A. Haggard, Under Crescent and Star, Edinburgh, 1895 (includes Egyptian Frontier, 1880's). (The Reconquest): An Officer (H. L. Pritchard), Sudan Campaign 1899, London, 1899. H. S. L. Alford & W. D. Sword, The Egyptian Soudan, Its Loss and Recovery, London, 1898. Correspondents' Accounts (Suakin): B. Burleigh, Desert Warfare, London, 1884. (Dongola, 1896): A. H. Atteridge, Towards Khartoum, The Story of the Sudan War of 1896, London, 1897. (Reconquest): B. Burleigh, Sirdar and Khalifa, London, 1898 (Atbara); Khartoum Campaign, 1898, London, 1899 (Omdurman). G. W. Steevens, With Kitchener to Khartoum, London, 1899. Other Personal Accounts Babikr Bedri, The Memoirs of Babikr Bedri, OUP, 1969 (a Mahdist). Sartorious, E., Three Month's in the Soudan, London 1885 (wife of one of V. Baker's staff officers). A. B. Wylde, '83 to '87 in the Soudan, 2 vol., London 1888, and Negro Universities Press reprint, 1969. (Prisoners): Wingate (Ohrwalder), Ten Years Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp, London, 1892; R. Slatin, Fire and Sword in the Sudan, London, 1896; K. Neufeld, A Prisoner of the Khaleefa, London, 1899. Of the Gordon literature the only works worth reading are: B. Allen, Gordon and the Sudan, London, 1931; C. Chenevix Trench, Charley Gordon, Allen Lane, 1978; and J. Marlowe, Mission to Khartoum, The Apotheosis of General Gordon, London, 1969. Contemporary issues of the Illustrated London News and The Graphic will give some accurate and some fanciful illustrations. Personal accounts can also be found in contemporary issues of The 19th Century and Cornhill Magazine. Sudan Notes and Records (often found in museum and university libraries), has numerous personal accounts and items on the Mahdiya, especially in issues of the years 1925-6, 1929-1941, 1950-1954 and 1961. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 5 #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1983 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com