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Historical person

Ahmed ‘Urabi

1841–1911

Ahmed ‘Urabi rose from a rural Egyptian family through the army at a time when senior command and government were dominated by Ottoman-Turkish and Circassian elites. In 1881 he emerged as a leader of a military and political movement demanding constitutional government, greater representation and an end to discrimination within the officer corps. The movement became a wider challenge to Khedive Tewfik and to European influence over Egyptian finances and policy.

In 1882 ‘Urabi became war minister and briefly prime minister as the crisis escalated into British intervention. His forces fortified the approaches to Cairo but were decisively defeated by Garnet Wolseley at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir on 13 September. ‘Urabi surrendered, was tried and exiled to Ceylon, and was eventually permitted to return to Egypt in 1901.

Ahmed ‘Urabi appears in John Wilcox’s The Guns of El Kebir, which places Simon Fonthill’s intelligence mission inside the 1882 campaign that ended the revolt and began Britain’s long occupation of Egypt.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Ahmed ‘Urabi (1 series)

Simon Fonthill in Order

by John Wilcox 13 books 4.2(4,074)

The Simon Fonthill series follows an unconventional British officer and intelligence scout through the wars and crises of the late Victorian and Edwardian empire. Beginning in southern Africa in 1879, Simon Fonthill and his Welsh comrade ‘352’ Jenkins move from regular army service into scouting, diplomacy and irregular…

All books in this series