Fully Equal to the Occasion: Frank Power and the Siege of Khartoum

This book is the third in a series of unexpurgated and extensively annotated editions of primary sources relating to the siege and fall of Khartoum. An important difference from its predecessors lies in Frank Power’s civilian status: his correspondence was unabashedly personal and direct, reflecting his youth, energy, ambition and occasional disregard for authority. In Power’s letters we find a sharply observant description of the personalities involved in the Khartoum administration, as well as the lifestyle of the colonial elite; these serve as a vivid counterpoint to his terse and largely non-judgemental reports for The Times newspaper.