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Gordon: the man behind the legend
This biography is the story of General Charles Gordon - his exploits in the Crimean War, his secondment to the Chinese government to defeat the Boxer rebels, his care of street boys in Gravesend, his rule in Sudan and persecution of the slave trade and, finally, his death in 1885 trying to save the people of Khartoum from fire and sword - remains one of the great sagas of the 19th century. The author has used extensive manuscript sources to reveal the zeal of Gordon, telling his story from an objective viewpoint. After Gordon's death the legend grew of the perfect hero. Then, a second legend grew - of the tarnished hero, the secret drinker, perhaps something worse. This has dominated and distorted his biographies. This book rehabilitates the reputation of one of Victorian England's great heroes, and places the man's Christian faith at the heart of his life. John Pollock is the author of "The Apostle", "John Wesley", "Shaftesbury" and "George Whitefield".
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1993
23 people want to read
About the author
John Charles Pollock
56 books28 followersThe late John Pollock, an award-winning biographer, had a flair for telling a dramatic story. He used this talent to write many biographies including ones on D. L. Moody and Major General Sir Henry Havelock.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 5, 2016
Charles Gordon’s Bible sits on display in Windsor Castle, and is a fitting momento of a somewhat mystical character who made his name as an outstanding military officer in China and Africa - and who is known to history for his death in Khartoum at the hands of soldiers of the Mahdi.
The accounts of various campaigns and battles are thorough and competent, but Pollock is particularly useful because of his empathy with Gordon’s general religious sensitivity. Gordon’s Christianity seems to have been literalist, but not quite what we would today call "conservative evangelical" – while accepting the idea of grace through Christ, he tended towards universalist sympathies, and he regarded Protestants and Catholics as fellow Christians. Somewhat unexpectedly, in middle age he developed a "high" view of the importance of Holy Communion and published a pamphlet on the subject; he also enthused over John Henry Newman’s Dream of Gerontius, and his annotations on the work (which "moved" Newman) were published in a special edition.
Gordon is also remembered for some crank Biblical pseudo-archaeology: in the Seychelles, he decided that an unusually-shaped fruit marked an island as the site of Eden, and in Jerusalem he identified an alternative site for Calvary; although the site had previously been suggested by Otto Thenius, Gordon became convinced due to an utterly bizarre interpretation of the city as a skeleton. Pollock clarifies that the tomb below the site was not in fact identified by Gordon as being Jesus’ Tomb, but that was basis on which the "Garden Tomb" site was developed by others.
As usual, Pollock is slightly in awe of his subject, but he goes beyond hagiography. Gordon's reputation as a secret drinker is a theme that recurs throughout, and although Pollock convincingly shows the rumours were unlikely to have been true, some doubt remains. Pollock also considers – and rejects – the suggestions that Gordon may have been homosexual, and that his interest in educating boys might not have been "pure"; again, there is no reason not to accept Pollock's reasoning. Some Pooterish moments grate, though: for instance, Gordon was a heavy smoker, but Pollock feels the need to remind us that this was before the risks to health were known; and while acknowledging that the Seychelles Eden theory is untenable, there is a pointless swipe against "fashionable scientists" of the era who believed in inevitable progress.
The accounts of various campaigns and battles are thorough and competent, but Pollock is particularly useful because of his empathy with Gordon’s general religious sensitivity. Gordon’s Christianity seems to have been literalist, but not quite what we would today call "conservative evangelical" – while accepting the idea of grace through Christ, he tended towards universalist sympathies, and he regarded Protestants and Catholics as fellow Christians. Somewhat unexpectedly, in middle age he developed a "high" view of the importance of Holy Communion and published a pamphlet on the subject; he also enthused over John Henry Newman’s Dream of Gerontius, and his annotations on the work (which "moved" Newman) were published in a special edition.
Gordon is also remembered for some crank Biblical pseudo-archaeology: in the Seychelles, he decided that an unusually-shaped fruit marked an island as the site of Eden, and in Jerusalem he identified an alternative site for Calvary; although the site had previously been suggested by Otto Thenius, Gordon became convinced due to an utterly bizarre interpretation of the city as a skeleton. Pollock clarifies that the tomb below the site was not in fact identified by Gordon as being Jesus’ Tomb, but that was basis on which the "Garden Tomb" site was developed by others.
As usual, Pollock is slightly in awe of his subject, but he goes beyond hagiography. Gordon's reputation as a secret drinker is a theme that recurs throughout, and although Pollock convincingly shows the rumours were unlikely to have been true, some doubt remains. Pollock also considers – and rejects – the suggestions that Gordon may have been homosexual, and that his interest in educating boys might not have been "pure"; again, there is no reason not to accept Pollock's reasoning. Some Pooterish moments grate, though: for instance, Gordon was a heavy smoker, but Pollock feels the need to remind us that this was before the risks to health were known; and while acknowledging that the Seychelles Eden theory is untenable, there is a pointless swipe against "fashionable scientists" of the era who believed in inevitable progress.
August 31, 2018
Deeply moving story of an extraordinarily brave godly man.
October 26, 2025
Distinctly average book. Far too much emphasis on the minutiae of Gordon's religiosity for my liking. Though, of course, Gordon and religion are interwoven.
July 15, 2016
Biography of the charismatic, spiritual British general. Nice rich storytelling here.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews