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Military Profiles
Gordon: Victorian Hero
Charles George Gordon was the preeminent military hero of the late-Victorian British Empire. A lifetime officer in the Royal Engineers, he served in several theaters of war and imperial contest, most notably China and the Sudan. His last assignment took him back to the dusty Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he supervised the overmatched Anglo-Egyptian garrison’s evacuation in the face of imminent attack by Islamic extremists. He was killed there in January 1885, just two days before a British relief expedition arrived.
In this new biography of General Gordon, C. Brad Faught looks afresh at the life of one of the most famous Victorian military men. Although a later age would come to reject Gordon’s record and the values by which he lived, he has remained an enduring figure in the British Empire’s late-nineteenth-century heyday and an important means by which to examine its contemporary abolitionism, territorial conquest, and the rule of dependent peoples. Faught traces Gordon’s life from his childhood in England and Corfu to his youth and training as an engineer at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and his subsequent military and proconsular service in the Crimea, eastern Europe, China, India, Mauritius, South Africa, and the Sudan. Throughout his varied career Gordon was guided by his staunch, conventional Christian faith—despite his critics’ best efforts to suggest otherwise—and remained devoted to the best features of imperial rule. Whether as a key opponent of the Arab slave trade or a leader of troops in battle, Gordon was usually successful in his undertakings but always controversial. This biography gives an up-to-date rendering of an important British imperial figure whose demise at the hands of a Muslim extremist is both resonant and potentially instructive for the era in which we live today.
In this new biography of General Gordon, C. Brad Faught looks afresh at the life of one of the most famous Victorian military men. Although a later age would come to reject Gordon’s record and the values by which he lived, he has remained an enduring figure in the British Empire’s late-nineteenth-century heyday and an important means by which to examine its contemporary abolitionism, territorial conquest, and the rule of dependent peoples. Faught traces Gordon’s life from his childhood in England and Corfu to his youth and training as an engineer at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and his subsequent military and proconsular service in the Crimea, eastern Europe, China, India, Mauritius, South Africa, and the Sudan. Throughout his varied career Gordon was guided by his staunch, conventional Christian faith—despite his critics’ best efforts to suggest otherwise—and remained devoted to the best features of imperial rule. Whether as a key opponent of the Arab slave trade or a leader of troops in battle, Gordon was usually successful in his undertakings but always controversial. This biography gives an up-to-date rendering of an important British imperial figure whose demise at the hands of a Muslim extremist is both resonant and potentially instructive for the era in which we live today.
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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About the author
C. Brad Faught
10 books4 followersDr. Brad Faught is Professor of History at Tyndale University College in Toronto, Ontario. He has received a Masters from Oxford and his Ph.D in History from the University of Toronto. As well, he has authored five books, including: The Oxford Movement: A Thematic History of the Tractarians and Their Times (Penn State University Press, 2003) and The New A-Z of Empire: A Concise Handbook of British Imperial History (I.B. Tauris, 2011). He specializes in nineteenth century British imperial, religious and political history. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Senior Fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 4, 2019
Well written and a pleasure to read.
October 16, 2025
Interesting, if short, biography of a man who was clearly, whatever some more recent authors have said, a hero of his time. And IMHO one still.
April 29, 2017
Brad Faught's Gordon: Victorian Hero is an insightful and well written historic biography of one of England's greatest war heroes. This short but information packed book is easy to read and even gripping. Having never heard who Gordon was until I picked up the book, I could not resist always turning the next page. Faught does well in diving into both the personal and professional life of Gordon in a way that gives the reader a well rounded view of his life. With this being a relative short book, it is absolutely packed with captivating stories and insights into Gordon's life that never drags on. Overall, Gordon: Victorian Hero is an amazing book that shows Dr. Brad Faught at his best.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews