Letters from the Crimea, the Danube and Armenia
August 18, 1854, to November 17, 1858

Published in 1884 when the controversial general's popularity was at its height, these letters offer an insight into his personality.

Charles George Gordon (Author), Demetrius C. Boulger (Edited by)

9781108044776, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 February 2012

228 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.3 kg

This volume of letters was published in 1884, when General Gordon (1833–85) was engaged in the controversial defence of Khartoum that claimed his life the following year. The reputation of 'Chinese' Gordon, a complex figure, unpopular with the British government and military but adored by the people and press, was fed by works such as this. Covering his time in the Crimea as a young lieutenant, and later in the drawing up of the new frontiers between the Russian and Ottoman empires, these letters were published by his later biographer, Demetrius C. Boulger (1853–1928) as evidence of Gordon's strength of character and value as a military leader. One reviewer noted in them an 'indomitable cheerfulness of disposition, patient endurance, trustful fatalism, simple courage and faith, … [and] single-hearted devotion to duty', words which reflected the popular view of Gordon as a symbol of British national pride and imperial honour.

Introduction
Part I. Letters from the Crimea
Part II. Letters from the Danube
Part III. Letters from Armenia
The fortress of Alexandropol.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]