The First Jihad tells the story of Muhammad Ahmad, a Muslim religious leader in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and the uprising he led against British and Egyptian forces in the late nineteenth century.

In 1881, Ahmad declared himself the Mahdi – the ‘Expected One’ – and travelled through Sudan, gathering support for his jihad. Initially, the Egyptian-Ottoman authorities did not take the rebellion seriously. However, in 1883, Ahmad’s army, armed only with spears and swords, overwhelmed an Egyptian force of more than 8,000 men at El Obied, and went on to defeat an even larger relief force at Sheikan.

The Mahdi’s army swelled to 30,000 men, and cut off the retreating British forces at Khartoum. The British attempted to break the siege, but were eventually defeated. Charles George Gordon, the British Governor General of Sudan, was beheaded on the steps of the palace, and his head was paraded through the streets of the city.

The Mahdi died shortly afterwards, yet his revolt had succeeded. The British vacated the territory for almost 15 years, and it was not until 1899 that the British returned, wishing to end the encroachment of other European powers in the region. The Mahdist forces were crushed at the Battle of Omdurman, and the great jihad was brought to an end.

Reviews

Hughes offers an insightful review of our problem in Iraq as a loyal supporter of President Bush...His book becomes genuinely thoughtful as he concludes that, while America was absolutely right to invade Iraq to depose an evil dictator, our ignorance of that nation 's history and religion has led to chaos

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, 08/27/07

… a very clearly written appraisal that affords more than the usual perspective on what kind of cleaning up in the Pentagon will be needed when the war and the Bush administration have passed into history. Definitely valuable to serious students of defence issues.

BOOKLIST , 09/15/07

...deserves your attention. Hughes is close enough to see the big picture and small details...unfiltered by media looking to sell paper or ratings...

MAGWEB.COM / RUSS LOCKWOOD ,

This battle narrative gives a clear and candid overview of how a leader deals with combat. . . . Likewise [Hughes] is clear about what he feels the strengths and successes of the army are, both in Iraq and institutionally. . . . Recommended.

LIBRARY JOURNAL , 1/11/2007

A first-class, personal account of combat in Iraq and how bureaucracies wage war. . . . War on Two Fronts makes real contributions to understanding battalion command in both conventional and unconventional operations, and to understanding the essence of full spectrum operations

ARMY MAGAZINE, 1/2/2008

Throughout the book, the author relates this dramatic event to the events of today, and how the intolerance that became Mahdi’s legacy still can be found in extremist beliefs within the Muslim world. This is a very fine book and I recommend it most highly.

TOY SOLDIER, 1/6/2008

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