A Ditch in Egypt

by Malcolm Archibald Book 11 in the Jack Windrush series.

First published 2022

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4.3(421)

Egypt, 1882. Jack Windrush has to combine his role as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Malverns with an unwanted position as a spy for General Hook. Colonel Arabi has led an Egyptian rebellion against the Khedive, hereditary ruler of Egypt for the Ottoman Turks, and the British fear for the security of the Suez Canal and the passage to India. Jack and his men have to compete with the heat, insects and General Wolseley.

Adding to the complexities of war, Jack’s old adversaries of the Fenians become involved, as does Major Costello of the US Marines. Together with the Royal Malverns, can he find a way through and emerge victorious? The principal historical frame is Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. The campaign is treated as part of the wider Victorian imperial system, with logistics, political calculation and the experience of ordinary soldiers complicating the language of honour and conquest.