Novelization of the Academy Award winning screenplay of the epic motion picture starring Charlton Heston and Sir Laurence Olivier. In 1883, a Holy War rages across Egypt. The Mahdi, devout prophet of Allah and leader of countless thousands of armed tribesman, is about to descend upon the city of Khartoum, in the Sudan. A city that has become the arsenal to Egypt and that the Mahdi pledges to kill ever man, woman, and child within it. William Gladstone, Britain's Prime Minister, vows that he will not send British troops to defend the city. Instead he would sacrifice one man and enlists the reputable General Gordon to smooth over the situation in Sudan after a brutal battle has left several British men dead. Gordon, savior of the Sudan who broke the slave trade several years prior, a man of righteous courage who would defy even the Prime Minister of England to rescue the people he loved. For he was a man who had lived for them and, if need be, would die for them . . . so instead of acting as an ambassador, he motivates the city to prepare its defenses and takes command of its small vastly outnumbered army. This novelization contains numerous scenes and subplots not seen in the released motion picture.