The River War The River War : An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan is an 1899 book by Winston Churchill , concerning his experiences as a British Army officer , during the Mahdist War in Sudan . The book provides a history of the British involvement in the Sudan and the conflict between the British forces led by Lord Kitchener and Dervish forces led by Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad , heir to the self - proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad who had embarked on a campaign to conquer Egypt , to drive out the non - Muslim infidel s and make way for the second coming of Jesus . " The River War " was Churchill ' s second published book after " The Story of the Malakand Field Force " , and originally filled two volumes with over 1000 pages in 1899 . " The River War " was subsequently abridged to one volume in 1902 . Background . Aware that there was a war in Sudan , Churchill determined to be part of it . He was not alone in this , because in a time generally of peace , many British army officers wanted experience of battle to further their careers . In Churchill ' s case , he did not see his career as lying with the army , but had already started writing about wars and wanted a new campaign to write about . He first attempted to obtain a transfer from his regiment stationed in India to the 21st Lancers , which was the unit taking part in the war . This was granted by the War office , but rejected by the commander of the British force in Sudan , General Kitchener . Churchill next took leave to Britain , where he enlisted friends and family to lobby Kitchener to permit him to take part . This continued to be unsuccessful , even when the prime minister Lord Salisbury made an inquiry on his behalf . Eventually , however , he prevailed upon Sir Evelyn Wood , Adjutant General of the Horse Guards , who had authority over appointments to the regiment in England , and he received an attachment to the Lancers in place of an officer who had died , on 24 July 1898 . On 5 August he was in Luxor and on 24 August the regiment set out from Atbara to attack the Mahdist forces . Before leaving London , Churchill obtained a commission to write accounts of the war for the " Morning Post " , producing thirteen articles between 23 September and 8 October 1898 for which he was paid fifteen pounds each . This helped offset his expenses for the trip , which the war office had declined to meet , as well as refusing any liability should he be killed or injured . " The Times " had two correspondents covering the war , one of whom was killed and another injured , and Churchill wrote a piece for this newspaper also , but Kitchener vetoed sending of the report . After the Battle of Omdurman the Lancers were ordered to return to other duties so Churchill ' s personal experience of the war ceased at that point . Although Omdurman had been taken from Khalifa Abdullahi , the Khalifa himself escaped and was not captured for another year . The campaign included a number of persons who were to play important parts in the First World War . Aside from Churchill and Kitchener , captains Douglas Haig and Henry Rawlinson became generals in the war , while lieutenant David Beatty then commanding a Nile gunboat became an admiral and Commanded the British Grand Fleet . Churchill returned to England to complete his leave , before returning to India for three months and finally resigning from the army . As a direct result of Churchill ' s writings , a rule was introduced prohibiting serving officers from also acting as war correspondents . This was one factor contributing to his leaving the army , since his earnings from writing were some five times greater than his army pay during his three years of army service . In India Churchill visited the Viceroy , Lord Curzon , who had himself written a history of " Persia and the Persian Question " eight years before . He read everything he could find containing background information about the Sudan . On the way home he stopped for two weeks in Egypt to visit Lord Cromer , then in charge of the Egyptian government , who read through the text and made suggestions and corrections ; in particular playing down the popular impression of General Gordon , murdered by the Mahdi ' s forces fourteen years before , as a hero . While in Cairo he spoke to Slatin Pasha , author of a work about the Sudan , Sir Reginald Wingate Director of Intelligence on Kitchener ' s staff , Edouard Girouard responsible for building railways through Egypt which allowed the British advance , and others who had played some part . Sailing home across the Mediterranean , Churchill had as a fellow passenger George Warrington Steevens , who was also a war correspondent , working for the " Daily Telegraph " . They had met on a couple of previous occasions , and Churchill prevailed upon him also to read the manuscript . His suggestion was to reduce the degree of philosophising , that despite the accuracy of Churchill ' s commentary it might bore the reader . Content . In vivid style the book describes the background to the war , the relationship of the Upper Nile to Egypt , the murder of General Charles George Gordon in the siege at Khartoum , the political reaction in England , and Kitchener ' s elaborate preparations for the war . While in the Sudan , Churchill participated in the Battle of Omdurman . Churchill comments at length on the mechanisation of war with use of the telegraph , railroad , and a new generation of weaponry . 1899 unabridged , two - volume edition . The unabridged version contains many illustrations with drawings , photogravure s , and coloured maps . It also contains vivid narratives of personal adventures of the author , his views on British expansionism , passages of deep reflection about the requirements of a civilised government , criticism of military and political leaders and religion . The first edition was reviewed by " The Times " , which described it as containing material sufficient for two good books and one bad one , with the bad one being the more interesting . About Islam he wrote : About the British attitude to war : About the modern machinery of war and its effectiveness against native tribesmen : Churchill spread his criticisms wherever he found fault . A passage was highly critical of General Kitchener for ordering the desecration of the Mahdi ' s tomb and carrying off his head as a trophy . The head was returned by the order of Lord Cromer , once he discovered what had happened . The matter was debated in parliament and led to a newspaper campaign against Kitchener as well as deepening the ill feeling which already existed between two men who as members of the British government in 1914 were expected to co - operate militarily as heads of the army and navy departments . All reference to the incident was removed from the second edition . Criticisms extended to the supplies for the troops : British soldiers were sent out from England with boots made substantially from cardboard , which rapidly disintegrated and had to be bound with cloth or string to hold them together . While the Indian army was equipped with highly effective Dum - dum bullets produced in India , British bullets sent to Egypt were simply pointed , and 1 , 000 , 000 rounds had to have their ends filed off to increase their effectiveness . The rough remodelling meant the bullets were inaccurate at long ranges , giving soldiers a choice of bullets able to hit their target but only wound , or killing bullets which were likely to miss and could jam the guns . Railway engines needed to carry troops and supplies into Sudan had to be obtained from all over the world as British companies were unable to supply at short notice . By contrast , American companies could supply locomotives immediately which were more effective and cheaper than some obtained from England . 1902 abridged , one - volume edition . In 1902 Churchill had become a member of parliament . It was thought that the commentary about some of the people mentioned had better be excised in a revised edition . The book was thus edited down to one single volume , removing approximately one third of the total . Much of the removed content included passages where Churchill recounted his own experiences , as he had done in other works , such as " The Story of the Malakand Field Force " . This removal gave the revised book a somewhat different feel to these others , and to its original form . Other removals included discussions on the ethics of warfare and Churchill ' s own opinions of events . The revised book was described as an authoritative history of the war . Abridgements were published numerous times over the twentieth century , with increasing excisions . A complete new edition of the original work was published in 2009 . Sources