The death of General Charles 'Chinese' Gordon at the hands of the Mahdi's fanatical warriors as they broke their way into the Sudanese city of Khartoum was one of the most dramatic events of the late Victorian period. The story is well known, recounted in numerous books and celebrated in the 1966 film Khartoum starring Charlton Heston. However, what is perhaps less well known is the subsequent-and far more successful-campaign fought by the British against the Mahdi's successor, the Khalifa, by General Kitchener, the Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, over a decade later. The Sirdar and the Khalifa examines Kitchener's belated campaign to reconquer the Sudan and avenge the death of General Gordon. It is a classic tale of British soldiers battling a fanatical Dervish enemy in the harsh terrain of the desert, ending with the epic Battle of Omdurman in 1898.