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Osprey Campaign #23
Khartoum 1885: General Gordon's Last Stand
Early in 1881 unrest in the Sudan began to crystallise around Mohammed Ibn Ahmed el-Sayyid Abdullah. Proclaiming himself the long-expected Madhi, the Guided One of the Prophet, he preached that the Sudan was to be purged of its Egyptian oppressors. Drawn in by the Egyptian failure to deal with the situation, the British sent General Gordon to organise an evacuation. On reaching Khartoum however, General Gordon believed, incorrectly, that the Madhi could be reasoned with. Instead of negotiating, the Madhi besieged the town for 317 days. This title looks in particular, although not exclusively, at the battles fought by the British columns sent to relieve Khartoum.
96 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 1993
About the author
Donald F. Featherstone
95 books14 followersFeatherstone (who sometimes used his middle initial and sometimes didn't) served in the Royal Armoured Corps in World War II before becoming a physiotherapist. He worked for Southampton Football Club and Hampshire County Cricket Club, writing books on sporting, dancing, and industrial injuries.
Later, he turned his attention to his childhood hobby of toy soldiers, writing dozens of books on the subject and becoming instrumental in the development of wargaming as a pasttime. He also wrote books on military history.
Later, he turned his attention to his childhood hobby of toy soldiers, writing dozens of books on the subject and becoming instrumental in the development of wargaming as a pasttime. He also wrote books on military history.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 29, 2025
Very well written overview of this historical event. Recommended
November 2, 2025
In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad, a Sudanese Sufi mystic and teacher, proclaimed himself to be a messianic figure called the Mahdi. Tapping the discontent of the Sudanese population with the rule of Khedivate Egypt, he scored a number of victories over Egyptian forces that quickly won him a massive following. After a British-led Egyptian expedition to defeat the uprising was destroyed, the British government, which effectively controlled Egypt as a protectorate since 1882, decided to evacuate the region, and dispatched Charles Gordon, a British army officer and a former governor of the region, to manage the withdrawal. Upon arriving in the capital of Khartoum, however, Gordon began entrenching himself in the region. After he defied orders to return to Cairo, the British government was forced by public opinion to mount a relief expedition, elements of which arrived two days after Khartoum’s fall to the Mahdist forces.
Gordon’s death transformed him into a Victorian martyr, searing the fall of Khartoum into the British consciousness. Donald Featherstone’s compact and British-centric account of the campaign does not dwell on this or analyze the wisdom of the decisions that led to his death, preferring to focus on the battles of the various campaigns and the composition of the forces that waged them. Much of this is trivial from a historical perspective, and speaks to the attempt to write a book that would be of use to wargamers as well as those interested in the campaign more generally. While they will undoubtedly benefit from the evocative illustrations and the useful maps of the various battles, as anything more than the most basic overview of such an iconic event of British imperial history it leaves much to be desired.
Gordon’s death transformed him into a Victorian martyr, searing the fall of Khartoum into the British consciousness. Donald Featherstone’s compact and British-centric account of the campaign does not dwell on this or analyze the wisdom of the decisions that led to his death, preferring to focus on the battles of the various campaigns and the composition of the forces that waged them. Much of this is trivial from a historical perspective, and speaks to the attempt to write a book that would be of use to wargamers as well as those interested in the campaign more generally. While they will undoubtedly benefit from the evocative illustrations and the useful maps of the various battles, as anything more than the most basic overview of such an iconic event of British imperial history it leaves much to be desired.
February 22, 2026
Donald Featherstone está considerado el padre de los wargames (el abuelo podría ser el escritor inglés H.G.Wells), durante los años sesenta y setenta la mayoría de las reglas y sistemas de estos complejos y apasionantes juegos partieron de su pluma e ingenio. Además de eso es una de las mayores autoridades en todo lo que fue el Egipto y Sudán de finales del siglo XIX bajo dominio otomano y la revuelta del Mahdi con la posterior campaña británica.
"Jartum 1885", es el segundo volumen de su trilogía sobre tales sucesos y es el más redondo de todos. El libro nos narra los intentos del General Gordon por salvar la ciudad de Jartum de las huestes de "El Esperado", hechos que ya vimos en la famosa película protagonizada por Charlton Heston y Laurence Olivier "Khartoum" del año 1966.
Tanto por la calidad de las introducciones históricas que presenta, el rigor en los detalles, lo ameno de su lectura, la gran descripción táctica de las batallas y la importancia de los acontecimientos que nos narra (el Mahdismo se puede considerar el primer gran movimiento fundamentalista islámico antioccidental de la época contemporánea), es un libro enteramente recomendable que para los que estén interesados en tales cuestiones y en comprender como el Imperio Británico, el amo del mundo en aquellos momentos, estuvieron cerca de perder contra un heterogéneo grupo de “derviches” que iban con lanzas y espadas en sus primeras conquistas. La muerte prematura del Mahdi –apenas cinco meses después del asesinato de Gordon- y la llegada de más y mejores fuerzas británicas al Sudán hicieron que fueran derrotados en la batalla de Omdurmán en 1898, que es el último libro de la trilogía de Featherstone, pero tardaron casi veinte años en conseguirlo y dejando un país devastado que pagaría el precio del subdesarrollo durante el siglo XX.
En definitiva, que si usted quiere saber realmente donde nace la Yihad contemporánea, no deje de leer este libro.
"Jartum 1885", es el segundo volumen de su trilogía sobre tales sucesos y es el más redondo de todos. El libro nos narra los intentos del General Gordon por salvar la ciudad de Jartum de las huestes de "El Esperado", hechos que ya vimos en la famosa película protagonizada por Charlton Heston y Laurence Olivier "Khartoum" del año 1966.
Tanto por la calidad de las introducciones históricas que presenta, el rigor en los detalles, lo ameno de su lectura, la gran descripción táctica de las batallas y la importancia de los acontecimientos que nos narra (el Mahdismo se puede considerar el primer gran movimiento fundamentalista islámico antioccidental de la época contemporánea), es un libro enteramente recomendable que para los que estén interesados en tales cuestiones y en comprender como el Imperio Británico, el amo del mundo en aquellos momentos, estuvieron cerca de perder contra un heterogéneo grupo de “derviches” que iban con lanzas y espadas en sus primeras conquistas. La muerte prematura del Mahdi –apenas cinco meses después del asesinato de Gordon- y la llegada de más y mejores fuerzas británicas al Sudán hicieron que fueran derrotados en la batalla de Omdurmán en 1898, que es el último libro de la trilogía de Featherstone, pero tardaron casi veinte años en conseguirlo y dejando un país devastado que pagaría el precio del subdesarrollo durante el siglo XX.
En definitiva, que si usted quiere saber realmente donde nace la Yihad contemporánea, no deje de leer este libro.
November 26, 2018
The book packs too much into too thin of a volume. The result is brief, even confusing battlefield accounts. The actual battle of Khartoum, which the book is supposedly all about, is covered in two pages.
August 2, 2017
Osprey in the early 1990 's was still trying to find its feet with the new campaign series: the 90 page format didn't sit well with such famous but large-scale battles as Normandy or the Ardennes. More contained affairs, tough, worked out well, especially when given to authors with a professional knowledge of the topic.
Featherstone had already written monographs on Victorian colonial warfare when David Chandler wheeled him in to write a trilogy on the conquest of British Egypt & the Sudan (1882-1898) of which this is the middle part.
The politics at the genesis of the campaign are presented with great clarity and insight into the Mahdi Rebellion as we call it from the POV of the vanquished. The weaponry data are tailored to their effects and defects in the field, rather than just lised from a manual.
One critical note: the illustrations commentary. It is never indicated whether any come from the author's collection, nor are they checked for inaccuracies. Ian Knight, in his numerous Ospreys and books dealing with the Zulu War, was far more diligent with his late-Victorian prints, published less than a decade before Khartoum.
Featherstone had already written monographs on Victorian colonial warfare when David Chandler wheeled him in to write a trilogy on the conquest of British Egypt & the Sudan (1882-1898) of which this is the middle part.
The politics at the genesis of the campaign are presented with great clarity and insight into the Mahdi Rebellion as we call it from the POV of the vanquished. The weaponry data are tailored to their effects and defects in the field, rather than just lised from a manual.
One critical note: the illustrations commentary. It is never indicated whether any come from the author's collection, nor are they checked for inaccuracies. Ian Knight, in his numerous Ospreys and books dealing with the Zulu War, was far more diligent with his late-Victorian prints, published less than a decade before Khartoum.
September 4, 2011
For those familiar with the Osprey Campaign format, this book will hold no suprises - its 90+ pages serves as decent introduction to the campaign. Graphic material and maps are as usual of very high quality. The written material is of lower quality, mainly because author focuses on British attempts to rescue Khartoum, rather than on siege itself, which is dealt with in most rudimentary manner. This, considering the title of this book, is a bit disapointing and misguiding. However, this short volume serves very well as an introduction to Mahdi rebelion and English envolvment in the conflict.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews