A rivetting read, that charts the relationship between Britain, Egypt and the Sudan, and explores the myth and reality of General Gordon and the fall of Khartoum. From the annihilation of a column of 11,000 Imperial troops in 1883 to the final destruction of the Mahdi's army at Kerrari, where a charge of 35,000 native troops never got within 400 yards of the British and Egyptian lines, this is a story of bravery, derring-do and the 'thin red line.' And what a story. If only the British generals had learnt the lessons of Kerrari before WW1 started.... Gripping.