Illustrated throughout with contemporary engravings, photographs and maps, this highly readable eye-witness account was written by Frank Power, a British journalist and latterly Consul, who was trapped in the Siege of Khartoum. This book of his personal letters was published posthumously by his family, before the death of General Gordon, when there was still some chance of relief. They are full of hope and optimism, and contain vivid descriptions of daily life in Khartoum, but also focus on the stark realities of life in a siege situation, the frustration of entrapment and of waiting for relief which never came, and the ever present threat of attack by the Mahdi army.