Charles George Gordon

Major-General Charles George Gordon, was known under many titles, Gordon Pasha, Chinese Gordon and Gordon of Khartoum; all of which stem from his long and distinguished service around the world in the British Army. In this biography, Lt.-General Butler charts Gordon’s progress through the phases of his career with an expert attention to detail.

Gordon saw his first active service in the merciless bloodbath of the Crimean war in which he distinguished himself and learnt many lessons on how not to conduct military operations. His military reputation gained further laurels in China, where he commanded the “Ever Victorious Army” during the Taiping rebellion to great success. His enduring fame, however, remains for his conduct in Egypt and the Sudan; he led the valiant garrison in the besieged city of Khartoum against the self-proclaimed Mahdi in 1884. He and the defenders gallantly held on for a year, gaining much public attention, but there was no relief force at hand and Gordon and as many as 10,000 inhabitants were brutally slaughtered. Gordon and his heroic stand at Khartoum are still remembered today and he still stands immortalized in many statues around the countries of the former British Empire.