Books

First abridged edition, first impression. For this edition (the second overall), Churchill shortened the text by a third but added a new preface and chapter on the destruction of the Khalifa and the end of the war. The book was first published in two volumes in 1899. "The River War is a brilliant history of British involvement in the Sudan and the campaign for its reconquest: arresting, insightful, with tremendous narrative and descriptive power" (Langworth, p. 27). In his abridgement Churchill also extensively revised the book to omit any criticisms of Kitchener and the British Army: "as a Conservative MP, he found it prudent to tone down his questioning of the imperialist adventure" (Rose, p. 61). Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections; his book label is loosely inserted. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and front cover lettered and decorated in gilt, black endpapers. Photogravure portrait frontispiece of Kitchener, 14 coloured maps and plans (6 folding), 8 sketch maps in text. Light rubbing at extremities, endpapers a little toned, front free endpaper reinserted, rear hinge with superficial split: a very good, square copy. Cohen A2.2; Woods A2(b). Richard M. Langworth, A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, 1998; Jonathan Rose, The Literary Churchill, 2015.

The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan (1899), by Winston Churchill, is a history of the British imperial involvement in the Sudan and the campaign to reconquer the Sudan following the defeat of the revolt led by the Mahdist leader, Muhammad Ahmad.