The River War

By: Winston Churchill

Narrated by: Stephen Thorne

The northeastern quarter of the continent of Africa is drained and watered by the Nile. Among and about the headstreams and tributaries of this mighty river lie the wide and fertile provinces of the Egyptian Soudan. Situated in the very centre of the land, these remote regions are on every side divided from the seas by 500 miles of mountain, swamp, or desert.

The great river is their only means of growth, their only channel of progress. It is by the Nile alone that their commerce can reach the outer markets or European civilisation can penetrate the inner darkness. The Soudan is joined to Egypt by the Nile as a diver is connected with the surface by his air pipe. Without it there is only suffocation. Aut Nilus, aut nihil!

The town of Khartoum, at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, is the point on which the trade of the south must inevitably converge. It is the great spout through which the merchandise collected from a wide area streams northwards to the Mediterranean shore. It marks the extreme northern limit of the fertile Soudan. Between Khartoum and Assuan the river flows for 1,200 miles through deserts of surpassing desolation.

At last the wilderness recedes, and the living world broadens out again into Egypt and the Delta. It is with events that have occurred in the intervening waste that this audiobook is concerned. The real Soudan, known to the statesman and the explorer, lies far to the south - moist, undulating, and exuberant.

But there is another Soudan, which some mistake for the true, whose solitudes oppress the Nile from the Egyptian frontier to Omdurman. This is the Soudan of the soldier. Destitute of wealth or future, it is rich in history. The names of its squalid villages are familiar to distant and enlightened peoples. The barrenness of its scenery has been drawn by skilful pen and pencil. Its ample deserts have tasted the blood of brave men. Its hot, black rocks have witnessed famous tragedies. It is the scene of the war.

©1899 Winston Churchill (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Very well written but somewhat hard to follow

If you aren’t familiar with African geography or 1800’s British military vernacular, be prepared to do some quick searches while listening.

Great history except abridged.

Churchill is my favorite historian. This book is a useful history to this day. My only complaint is this is an abided edition.

Excellent

This is one of Winston best stories & the narrator reads with much gravitas.

Hugely important, but largely forgotten, Winston takes you with him through the dark heart of Africa. You will learn of Chinese Gordon, Dervish Caliphates and many tales heroism and folly.

This is some of Winston's best writing & you'll probably want to listen to this more than once.

Well written and performed

The story is more interesting because of the author’s personal participation in the events. The style is reminiscent of Gibbon and classical historians like Tacitus. The listener should have a map at hand to follow the climactic battle of Omdurman.

Very Interesting. Maybe a bit too detailed

Churchill provided all the minute details on units and supplies which got redundant but was comprehensive and careful. But it greatly connected for me what happened after Gordon. The gunboats and the Maxim guns made it a pretty one sided fight but the desert deprivations were dramatic.
And, to be honest, I liked the present time point of view. This was not someone portraying how Churchill might have said it more...inclusively. It was Churchill through and through. He admired courage no matter what side or color, but you felt every Brit officer’s wounds. The Sudan and Egyptian troops not so much.

intriguing look in history, written by my hero.

The intricacies of Empire.
The narrative can get dreary.
Overall well described and accurate.

This is a 1902 abridged edition

Not stated in description but this a later, abridged, edition. The performance is superb. Probably spoken better than WC would have done himself.