The Kitchener Enigma : the Life and Death of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, 1850-1916.

Royle revises Kitchener's latterday image to reveal a warm-hearted, tender, and caring man capable of displaying great loyalty and love to those close to him. New light is thrown on his Irish childhood, his years in the Middle East, and his attachment to the Arab cause, and on the infamous struggle with Lord Curzon over the army in India. In particular, Royle reassesses Kitchener's role in World War I, presenting his phenomenally successful recruitment campaign—"Your Country Needs You"—as a major contribution to the Allied victory and rehabilitating him as a brilliant strategist. In this critically acclaimed biography, now fully updated, Royle revises Kitchener's latter-day image as a stern taskmaster, the ultimate war lord, to reveal a caring man capable of displaying great loyalty and love to those close to him. New light is thrown on his Irish childhood, his years in the Middle East as a biblical archaeologist, his attachment to the Arab cause and on the infamous struggle with Lord Curzon over control of the army in India. In particular, Royle reassesses Kitchener's role in the Great War, presenting his phenomenally successful recruitment campaign – 'Your Country Needs You' – as a major contribution to the Allied victory and rehabilitating him as a brilliant strategist who understood the importance of fighting the war on multiple fronts. Title -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- Prologue -- 1 An Irish Boyhood -- 2 A Sapper in the Levant -- 3 Egypt: Riding the Desert Sands -- 4 Sudan: Planning for Victory -- 5 Omdurman: The Making of the Legend -- 6 Symbol of Empire -- 7 The Great Boer War -- 8 India: Commander-in-Chief -- 9 Egypt Again: Proconsul -- 10 War Lord: Raising the New Armies -- 11 The Need for Shells -- 12 Strategy on Three Fronts -- 13 Erosion of Power -- 14 An Unpitied Sacrifice -- 15 The Kitchener Legacy -- Bibliography -- Plates -- Copyright