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Fire and Sword in the Sudan: A Personal Narrative of Fighting and Serving the Dervishes, 1879-1895

by R. Slatin Pasha

Summary

This volume was published in 1898.

From the book's
Prompted by the earnest entreaties of my friends rather
than by any wish of my own to relate my experiences, I
have written these chapters.

The few months which have elapsed since my escape
have been so much occupied in resuming my official duties,
compiling reports, and satisfying the kindly interest displayed
by a large number of people in my strange fate, that any
attempt at quiet and steady literary work has been almost
impossible.

During my captivity I was unable to make any notes or
keep any diaries ; in writing, therefore, the following pages,
I have been dependent entirely on my memory, whilst the
whirl of the busy European world, and the constant inter-
ruptions to which I have alluded, have given me little time
to collect my scattered thoughts.

When, therefore, after having been debarred for so many
years from intercourse with outside affairs, and entirely out
of practice in writing down my ideas, I find myself urged
to lose no time in publishing an account of my adventures,
I must beg my readers to excuse the many defects they
may notice.

My experiences have no pretence to being of any literary
or scientific value, and the personal episodes I have described
can lay claim to little importance ; I have merely attempted
to give to those interested in Sudan affairs a true and faithful
account of my life whilst fighting and serving the Mahdists.

Rudolf Slatin.
London,
October, 1895.