The complete and unabridged First Edition of Winston Churchill's enthralling history of the 1896-1899 reconquest of the Sudan by Lord Alfred Kitchener, which saw the destruction of the Dervish Empire, those fanatical followers of the "Mahdi"- the Islamist leader responsible for the 1885 siege of Khartoum and death of the famous British General Charles Gordon. Widely regarded as the most authoritative account of the Sudan War-which the author dubbed the River War, on account of the importance of the Nile River in the region-this work was originally published in two volumes. This was later condensed down to a single volume, a work which cut out swathes of Churchill's highly relevant observations and commentary. The River War Volume I is the first part of a new edition of the original two volume set which contains the complete and unabridged text of the original First Edition. This meticulously researched history was backed up by the author's personal presence during the military campaign as correspondent for the Morning Post newspaper in London. Volume I starts with a complete account of the history of the Sudan's history leading up to the rise of the Mahdi; the Mahdi's remarkable exploits; and the immediate aftermath of the fall of Khartoum and the murder of General Gordon. Thereafter the author deals with the intriguing political background in Britain and Egypt which led to the creation of a new military force-under British leadership-in Egypt. This force, comprised of Egyptians, Sudanese tribes, and British officers, was developed with the sole purpose of dislodging the Mahdist, or Dervish, Empire which had seized control of most of the Sudan and had established a self-proclaimed Khalifa, or Caliphate. It then relates the military campaigns up to the famous April 1898 Battle of the Atbara, where the Anglo-Egyptian force defeated a 15,000-strong Dervish army. Along the way, the author recounts many dramatic actions, clashes, naval encounters-and the excruciating but incredible technical effort put into building a supply railway through the desert deep into the Dervish heartlands. This Volume I also contains all the original illustrations and maps, digitally restored to the highest standards possible. It has also been indexed.