591 Pages

ISBN 978-1-917120-78-4

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The Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 was fought – ostensibly – in order to support the Khedive of Egypt against a nationalist uprising led by one of his government ministers, Colonel Ahmed Arabi Pasha. In truth, Britain’s primary rationale was to maintain free access to the Suez Canal – a route vital for trade and communications with her Imperial possessions in the east.

The war saw the largest deployment of British and Imperial forces during the four decades between the end of the Indian Mutiny and the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Yet despite the considerable number of troops mobilised, and the conflict at its end being described by one participant as “a complete, crushing, and absolute success”, this war in the desert has been largely overlooked by military historians.

Through a Hell of Fire redresses this gap in the literature. A four-volume work, it collects more than 1,300 personal letters from British soldiers, sailors, and marines engaged in the war, as well as from civilians caught in the tumult. It forms the largest single collection of British armed forces correspondence for any conflict of the Victorian Age, not only shedding fresh light on the conduct of the campaign itself, but also affording remarkable glimpses into the minds of the men who fought for Queen, Country, and Empire.

Volume 1 covers May to mid-August 1882 – documenting the eve of the war, the riots in Alexandria that set the tinderbox aflame, the Bombardment of Alexandria by the Royal Navy, the first landings made by the British forces, and the tentative opening manoeuvres.