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Simon Fonthill #6
Siege of Khartoum
1884. Queen Victoria’s hero General Gordon is under siege. Hoards of Dervish warriors, loyal to the Mahdi, the Sudanese warlord and Messiah, are baying for British blood. With a small army and diminishing supplies, Gordon fears Khartoum will fall. Ex-captain and one-time subaltern Simon Fonthill is summoned to Cairo on a vital mission. He must enter the heavily guarded city undetected and make contact with Gordon ahead of the relief force. Together with comrade 352 Jenkins, Fonthill makes the treacherous journey across the Nile. But when they’re captured by a sadistic Dervish patrol, it seems hope of a British victory is all but lost. Can Fonthill and Jenkins survive interrogation and save Khartoum?
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2009
4 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
John Wilcox
18 books33 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Wilcox started out as a local reporter and journalist in Birmingham before spending many years in industry, which took him all round the world. He finally sold his company to devote himself to writing full-time. He lives in Salisbury.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Wilcox started out as a local reporter and journalist in Birmingham before spending many years in industry, which took him all round the world. He finally sold his company to devote himself to writing full-time. He lives in Salisbury.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 2, 2022
**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!**
Read this book in 2009, and its the 6th volume of the wonderful "Simon Fonthill" series.
The year is AD 1884, and Queen Victoria's favourite hero, General Gordon is under siege in the English-held Khartoum, and needs urgent assistance.
Against General Gordon are hoards of Dervish warriors, loyal the the Mahdi, who's the Sudanese warlord and Messiah, and they are baying for British blood.
And so Simon Fonthill and with his comrade '352' Jenkins, they must make the treacherous journey across the Nile and somehow seem to infiltrate in this land at war, and so try to reach Gordon within Khartoum ahead of the relief force.
But all of a sudden our friends, Fonthill and '352' Jenkins are both captive of the Dervish themselves and interrogated, and although they are able to rescue themselves and escape to Khartoum, will they be on time to save that same Khartoum from the Dervish.
What is to follow is an exciting and entertaining Sudanese military adventure for Fonthill and '352' Jenkins, and all this is brought to us by the author in his own believable and admirable fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another excellent addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Sublime Siege Of Khartoum"!
Read this book in 2009, and its the 6th volume of the wonderful "Simon Fonthill" series.
The year is AD 1884, and Queen Victoria's favourite hero, General Gordon is under siege in the English-held Khartoum, and needs urgent assistance.
Against General Gordon are hoards of Dervish warriors, loyal the the Mahdi, who's the Sudanese warlord and Messiah, and they are baying for British blood.
And so Simon Fonthill and with his comrade '352' Jenkins, they must make the treacherous journey across the Nile and somehow seem to infiltrate in this land at war, and so try to reach Gordon within Khartoum ahead of the relief force.
But all of a sudden our friends, Fonthill and '352' Jenkins are both captive of the Dervish themselves and interrogated, and although they are able to rescue themselves and escape to Khartoum, will they be on time to save that same Khartoum from the Dervish.
What is to follow is an exciting and entertaining Sudanese military adventure for Fonthill and '352' Jenkins, and all this is brought to us by the author in his own believable and admirable fashion.
Highly recommended, for this is another excellent addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Sublime Siege Of Khartoum"!
June 14, 2022
This book takes place exactly when four feathers movie does.
And I am glad that Polish litrtature has this nowel settled in that period.Written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. - W pustyni i w puszczy/In Desert and Wilderness
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. - According to some accounts, the attackers killed and beheaded British General Charles George Gordon, the commander of the defenders, delivering his head to the Mahdi.
The Mahdist total losses at Omdurman were about 10,000 killed, 10,000 wounded, and 5,000 taken prisoner. The Anglo-Egyptian army suffered about 500 casualties. The results of the battle were the practical extinction of Mahdism in the Sudan and the establishment of British dominance there.
Chief Justice Nemat Abdallah has announced that 1,012 prisoners in Khartoum and Omdurman are to be released. The Chief Justice announced the decision during a visit to Omdurman Prison yesterday.
I love how the British are, with suspenders and spirit achived, dasing, swans alike looks.
And once again the confrontation between Great Britain and Russia in Afghanistan in the race of the Big Game.
Eighteen years of war, the Mahdi Rising resulted in nominally joint rule of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899-1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt, in which Great Britain had de facto control of Sudan.
In 1886, the Prussian government established the Colonization Commission, which dealt with the purchase of land from Polish hands and the settlement of Germans there. The process of Germanization intensified even more. The Society for the Promotion of Niemczyzny in the Eastern Borderlands (1894) was established.
- Colonization Commission (German: Königlich Preußische Ansiedlungskommission für Westpreußen und Posen) - an institution founded on April 26, 1886 by the Prussian authorities, on the initiative of Otto von Bismarck, under the leadership of the president of the province of Poznań.
After the Treaty of Versailles, most of the Province of Poznań and West Prussia was handed over to the (new) Second Polish Republic; border mark Poznań-West Prussia was created. With this, the Accounts Payable Commission lost its importance.
And I am glad that Polish litrtature has this nowel settled in that period.Written by Henryk Sienkiewicz. - W pustyni i w puszczy/In Desert and Wilderness
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. - According to some accounts, the attackers killed and beheaded British General Charles George Gordon, the commander of the defenders, delivering his head to the Mahdi.
The Mahdist total losses at Omdurman were about 10,000 killed, 10,000 wounded, and 5,000 taken prisoner. The Anglo-Egyptian army suffered about 500 casualties. The results of the battle were the practical extinction of Mahdism in the Sudan and the establishment of British dominance there.
Chief Justice Nemat Abdallah has announced that 1,012 prisoners in Khartoum and Omdurman are to be released. The Chief Justice announced the decision during a visit to Omdurman Prison yesterday.
I love how the British are, with suspenders and spirit achived, dasing, swans alike looks.
And once again the confrontation between Great Britain and Russia in Afghanistan in the race of the Big Game.
Eighteen years of war, the Mahdi Rising resulted in nominally joint rule of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899-1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Egypt, in which Great Britain had de facto control of Sudan.
In 1886, the Prussian government established the Colonization Commission, which dealt with the purchase of land from Polish hands and the settlement of Germans there. The process of Germanization intensified even more. The Society for the Promotion of Niemczyzny in the Eastern Borderlands (1894) was established.
- Colonization Commission (German: Königlich Preußische Ansiedlungskommission für Westpreußen und Posen) - an institution founded on April 26, 1886 by the Prussian authorities, on the initiative of Otto von Bismarck, under the leadership of the president of the province of Poznań.
After the Treaty of Versailles, most of the Province of Poznań and West Prussia was handed over to the (new) Second Polish Republic; border mark Poznań-West Prussia was created. With this, the Accounts Payable Commission lost its importance.
February 3, 2023
The villain is so mustache-twirlingly bad that he's unintentionally comical, and he's far too one-dimensional for that fact to be excused or executed well (he practically mwa-ha-ha laughs whenever he does something evil). Luckily he's not on the page very often and the story is so good that even he can't diminish how fantastic this volume is. I usually skip the "historical notes" at the end of these books but I even stuck around for this one because it was so fascinating.
February 8, 2017
As usual John Wilcox delivers again,very good book.
September 18, 2012
John Wilcox does not disappoint. Here in the sixth adventure of Simon Fonthill and Jenkins 352. I read another series recently by a different writer in our Victorian military fiction genre. It is night and day in comparison.
Wilcox has pacing and drama down well. He understands the era, as well as the campaigns that the military is involved in. We meet the true historical personalities in a way that makes sense. And we see where there are fools as well.
Perhaps the restraint in which we deal with the idiots who are obstacles in the British forces could be handled better. Let Jenkins do what he does well, (Kill the blighters) but then Fonthill shows a governing hand to stop that, and the criminally foolish which we know the British army was riddled with, do he theirs often enough.
And we need such foils to add to the drama.
We learn a good deal of history about the Mahdi and Gordon of Khartoum as well. The adventure is first rate and the character development continues. This is a series that should you like the latter part of the Victorian Era and Queen Victoria's Little Wars (as Farwell put it) then this is a great series to get and read. Recommend and up for a second read as well.
Wilcox has pacing and drama down well. He understands the era, as well as the campaigns that the military is involved in. We meet the true historical personalities in a way that makes sense. And we see where there are fools as well.
Perhaps the restraint in which we deal with the idiots who are obstacles in the British forces could be handled better. Let Jenkins do what he does well, (Kill the blighters) but then Fonthill shows a governing hand to stop that, and the criminally foolish which we know the British army was riddled with, do he theirs often enough.
And we need such foils to add to the drama.
We learn a good deal of history about the Mahdi and Gordon of Khartoum as well. The adventure is first rate and the character development continues. This is a series that should you like the latter part of the Victorian Era and Queen Victoria's Little Wars (as Farwell put it) then this is a great series to get and read. Recommend and up for a second read as well.
May 7, 2012
More of the usual fun and games from our hero Fonthill and 352, these 2 characters always bring a smile to my face even in the most dire of circumstances.
The plot is as always fast paced, full of detail and information but does not get bogged down with it, Wilcox always manages to make his story flow as though he were sat around the story like a classic story teller.
I have not read a Fonthill book i didn't enjoy yet, and based on this one again i don't foresee there being a day when he will disappoint.
So if you enjoy Historical Fiction, humour and a jolly good tale... then pick up this or another Wilcox.
(Parm)
The plot is as always fast paced, full of detail and information but does not get bogged down with it, Wilcox always manages to make his story flow as though he were sat around the story like a classic story teller.
I have not read a Fonthill book i didn't enjoy yet, and based on this one again i don't foresee there being a day when he will disappoint.
So if you enjoy Historical Fiction, humour and a jolly good tale... then pick up this or another Wilcox.
(Parm)
February 20, 2017
Simon Fonthill and his constant companion 352 Jenkins are back in action, this time tasked by General Wolesely with getting into the beseiged town of Khartoum in the Sudan, and finding out just how long the commanding general, 'Chinese' Gordon can hold out against the forces of the Mahdi. They must then get that information back to Wolesely and join the mission up the Nile to relieve the town before it's too late.
Sharpe for the colonial era. Every Fonthill book is better than the one before.
Sharpe for the colonial era. Every Fonthill book is better than the one before.
June 16, 2010
Great 'spiffing' adventure; good historical context.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews