Preface
_ The reconquest of the Soudan will ever be mentioned as one of the most difficult, and at the same time the most successful, enterprises ever undertaken. The task of carrying an army hundreds of miles across a waterless desert； conveying it up a great river, bristling with obstacles； defeating an enormously superior force, unsurpassed in the world for courage； and, finally, killing the leader of the enemy and crushing out the last spark of opposition； was a stupendous one.
After the death of Gordon, and the retirement of the British troops, there was no force in existence that could have barred the advance of the fanatical hordes of the Mahdi, had they poured down into Egypt. The native Egyptian army was, as yet, in the earliest stage of organization； and could not be relied upon to stand firm against the wild rush of the Dervishes. Fortunately, time was given for that organization to be completed； and when, at last, the Dervish forces marched north, they were repulse

......
全部内容，请购买此书。