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FIRST JIHAD: Khartoum, and the Dawn of Militant Islam | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel Allen Butler
Publisher: Casemate
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy Used: $11.95
You Save: $21.00 (64%)
New (18) Used (5) from $11.95
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 825172
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1932033548
Dewey Decimal Number: 962.403
EAN: 9781932033540
ASIN: 1932033548
Publication Date: April 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Before there was Osama bin Laden, Abu al-Zarqawi or Ayatollah Khomeini, there was the Mahdi-the "Expected One"-who raised the Arabs in pan-tribal revolt against infidels and apostates in the late 19th-century Sudan.Born on the Nile in 1844, Muhammed Ahmed grew into a devout, charismatic young man, whose visage was said to have always featured the placid hint of a smile. He developed a ferocious resentment, however, against the corrupt Ottoman Turks, their Egyptian lackeys, and finally the Europeans who he felt held the Arab people in subjugation. In 1880, he raised the banner of holy war, and thousands of warriors flocked to his side.The Egyptians dispatched a punitive expedition to the Sudan, but the Mahdist forces destroyed it. In 1883, Col. William Hicks gathered a larger army of nearly 10,000 men. Trapped by the tribesmen in a defile at El Obeid, it was massacred to a man. Three months later, another British-led force met disaster at El Teb.Prime Minister William Gladstone ordered a withdrawal from Sudan, and dispatched one of Victoria's most celebrated heroes, General Charles "Chinese" Gordon, to effect the evacuation. Instead, Gordon was besieged by the Mahdi at Khartoum. In an epic contest pitting military innovation and discipline against religious fervor, the Mahdi and Gordon dueled throughout 1884, while the British government hesitated to send relief. On January 26, 1885 a treacherous native (or patriot, depending on one's point of view) let the Mahdist forces into the city of Khartoum. Gordon, realizing that the end was at hand, donned a white uniform, took up his sword, and walked out upon his palace steps. He was hacked to death by jihadists and his head was carried around the city on a pole. A British relief column arrived two days later.The Mahdi died shortly afterward, yet his revolt had succeeded. The British vacated the territory for almost 15 years until in 1899, led by Herbert Kitchner, they returned to forestall encroachments by other European powers. The Mahdist forces were crushed at the Battle of Omdurman, and the great jihad temporarily dissolved into the desert, not to be renewed for another century.In today's world the Mahdi's words have been repeated almost verbatim by the Muslim jihadists who have attacked New York, Washington, Madrid and London, and continue to wage war from the Hindu Kush to the Mediterranean. Along with Saladin, who once defeated a holy war, the Mahdi stands as an Islamic icon who once launched his own successful crusade against the West. This deeply researched work reminds us that the "clash of civilizations" that supposedly came upon us in September 2001 in fact began much earlier. This book is essential reading for all those who seek to understand the roots of our current relationship with Islam. REVIEWS "... For those looking to find the origins of the extreme terrorism now gripping the planet, this book is the ideal starting point. Butler (Age of Cunard) has extensively researched the struggle for empire in the late 19th-century Middle East among Egypt, Great Britain, and Muhammed Ahmed, the Mahdi-or "Expected One"-of what was then the Sudan. T Although Butler states that his initial purpose was not to draw that parallel, the facts are there for all to see. Highly recommended."Library Journal, 03/2007"...key to understanding not only the Mahdi, but his ongoing importance to events happening today."California Bookwatch, 7/2007"...lays important tracks into the study of terrorism, fundamentalism and the early clashbetween Islam and Christianity..."Publishers Weekly 1/2007"...not a repeat of folk-lore history as depicted in many books and on the silver screen, but the result of most thorough and painstaking new research of memoirs, letters, government papers and many other primary sources... a very fine book and I recommend it most highly to you all" Military Modeling International, 03/2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 This is how it all started! May 22, 2007
Mark Foster (Kirkuk, Iraq)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Islam is shown at it's core beliefs in this book. This book gives you an understanding of what it's all about, and where it's going. Eva-Christ Makes you wonder if that angel of light in that cave, who gave Muhammad the Quran, really was?
 College-level collections strong in Middle East history and culture need this. July 27, 2007
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Before Bin Laden or Hussein there was the Mahdi, the 'Expected One' who raised the Arabs in a revolt against infidels in 19th century Sudan - and THE FIRST JIHAD: THE BATTLE FOR KHARTOUM AND THE DAWN OF MILITANT ISLAM is key to understanding not only the Mahdi, but his ongoing importance to events happening today. The Mahdi's army crushed forces dispatched from British Egypt to half his uprising, succeeded in unifying much of the Arab world, and developed early winning military strategies: THE FIRST JIHAD focuses both on these military encounters and on the biography and background of Muhammed Ahmed, whose charisma was to spark action among peoples. College-level collections strong in Middle East history and culture need this.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
 Good Research - Execrable Writing November 5, 2007
J. Martin (GA United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The subject matter is interesting, and the author clearly did his research thoroughly. The book, however, lacks any pretense of narrative focus. There is no consistent voice, sentences and anecdotes are repeated at different points in the narrative creating real confusion, and the author's writing style is stupefying.
I'm particularly disappointed because I'm interested in the subject matter, but the book was so poorly written I couldn't finish it.
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