The Dash for Khartoum

by G. A. Henty

First published 1892

Amazon Gutenberg EPUB

2.5(5)

The Sudan crisis of 1884–1885 draws the novel’s young protagonists into the British effort to reach Khartoum before the city falls. The Nile expedition must move men and supplies through difficult country while General Charles Gordon remains isolated inside the besieged capital.

The adventure follows the campaign from the perspective of people caught close to reconnaissance, transport and fighting rather than from the cabinet rooms where policy is decided. Desert conditions, distance and delayed information make every movement uncertain. As the relief force advances, the protagonists discover how little individual courage can compensate for strategic delay when an entire expedition is racing against time.