With Kitchener in the Soudan - G. A. Henty Hardcover

America had "Uncle Sam Wants You"; England had "General Kitchener Wants You".

Gregory Hilliard, whose real name is Hartley, comes of an aristocratic family but falls out with his father over his marriage. Finding it hard to make a living as a writer, Hartley relocates to Egypt for the sake of his wife's health. He passes through the bombardment of Alexandria and then disappears into the Soudan. Hartley becomes an officer in Hicks' raggle-taggle army which is sent out to destroy the Mahdi's incipient rebellion. Hicks is wiped out at El Obeid. Hartley’s young wife remains in Cairo with their baby son, also called Gregory, convinced that her husband has somehow survived. After a long illness, she dies when the lad is sixteen. In due course young Gregory accompanies Kitchener on his mission to retake Soudan from Separtist forces. The descriptions of the battles of Atbara and Omdurman are educational and informative.