DOI:

10.13140/RG.2.2.18717.61924
\
This is a very rare and welcome
addition to a very unknown part
of history.
John P. Dunn as described in his
Amazon Books biography “is an
Assistant Professor of History at
Valdosta State University, Georgia,
USA. He studies military affairs in
nineteenth century Egypt, Poland
and China. His work has appeared
in The Journal of Military
History, War in History, and The
Journal of Slavic Military Affairs.”
This is a history of why Egypts
army which performed admirably
against Turks and in Crimean War
and in Mexican war failed in the
final outcome.
The book examines the
paradoxical history of Egyptian
Army which performed brilliantly
in Crimean War and in French
Mexican war but miserably failed
in Ethiopian war .
When I read the book , I could
find no fault with the book , in
narrative or in analysis.
This rarely happens that you read
a book that leaves you with no
regret and no reason for criticism.
As I read this book , I could relate
it to military effectiveness or lack
of it of Indian armies in the
period 1740-1859.
Large Indian armies were
defeated by smaller more
disciplined European led forces of
English East India Company.
What the author did not discuss
in detail was that military virtue ,
as described by Clausewitz as an
essential pre-requisite for an
armys success takes a long time
to develop and Egyptian Army
never had that military virtue.
Where Egyptian Army functioned
well was where the command
was in European state hands as in
Southern Russia and Mexico.
Where the strategy and more
than that operational strategy
was to be decided the Egyptian
Army was a total failure.
In the same era a British Indian
Army convincingly defeated the
Ethiopians and captured their
capital in 1867 .
The author rightly analyses that
European and American officers
employed by the Egyptians did
not have that espirit de corps or
devotion that is necessary for an
army to be militarily effective.
Some of these officers were
drunkards as the author rightly
analyses.
The writer also correctly analyses
that there was a culture of
regarding regiments as personal
property in the Egyptian army
and this sabotaged inter unit as
well as inter arm cooperation.
Above all Egypt was led by
Albanian origin mercenaries who
had been Ottoman functionaries
and had become semi
independent some decades
earlier.
The author should have devoted
greater details to how the
Ethiopian Army was trained by
British mercenaries .
What happened to Egyptian Army
was very similar to how so many
local Indian armies were routed
by the English East India
Company.
The Europeans employed by
Egyptians were perhaps not the
best lot .The confederate officers
who came to Egypt had
exhausted all options and were
not the cream of the confederate
army.
In addition European officers had
not merged with the Egyptians ,
unlike the British officers of
English East India Company who
used to learn Indian languages
and had a closer bond with their
troops.
The book contains interesting
descriptions about how Egyptian
Army fought in Mexico as part of
the French expeditionary force.
By and large this is the only book
that analyses the Khedive Army .In
addition Khaled Fahmysbook “All
the Pasha's Men: Mehmed Ali,
His Army and the Making of
Modern Egypt” also deserves to
be read alongwith this book.