Kitchener : The Man Behind the Legend

Traces the life of the British general, describes his campaigns in the Sudan, South Africa, and the First World War, and examines the reasons for his military victories

A hero of the Victorian era, British general Horatio Herbert Kitchener (18501916) was as famous for his stern, "military" appearance as for his victories on distant battlefields in the Sudan and South Africa. In this well-researched biography, based on family papers, military historian Warner shows that Kitchener, first Earl of Khartoum and Broome, was a complex figure who, while certainly out of touch with the lives of average soldiers, was at heart an adventurer hiding behind a huge, forbidding mustache. Beginning with the future hero's sheltered childhood and his "schoolboy-adventure-story" life as a military surveyor in Palestine and Egypt, the author recounts his rapid career rise, his well-planned battle campaigns and his many conflicts with politicians. This is an informed, balanced account that convincingly disputes many myths, including the notion that Kitchener was homosexual. Warner's books include The Crimean War.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this popular biography of Kitchener, we find neither the latent homosexual nor the self-centered eccentric of other recent biographies but a Victorian gentleman whose successes as adventurer, administrator, and general combined with his own quirks of personality to generate criticism and misunderstanding. But Warner tends to overstate his case for Kitchener's normality and competence. He also fails to establish Kitchener's professional milieu. The book moves so rapidly through the Sudan, Egypt, India, etc., that readers will find it difficult to evaluate Warner's arguments. George Cassar's more scholarly Kitchener (London: Kimber, 1977) presents a similar view and is preferable for academic libraries. This is comparable in quality and appeal to Philip Magnus's Kitchener (1958) . For general readers. Dennis E. Show alter, History Dept., Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.