Wild Bennet Burleigh: The Pen and the Pistol

The biography of the amazing life of Bennet Burleigh (aka Burley), the Victorian war correspondent with the Daily Telegraph. From his start in life on the banks of the Clyde, the fresh faced young man sought adventure in the American Civil War as a pirate of the Chesapeake and on Lake Erie. He was captured but escaped several times and when he finally evaded the noose he returned home to Scotland. However this young mans adventures were not over, he joined the staff of the London Daily Telegraph and throughout his 50 year career he covered some 24 wars, seeing more action than most living living men, including professional soldiers. He was present in most of the Soudanese wars, he traveled with the Gordon relief column and scooped his fall in Khartoum. He was also present when the British later reconquered the Soudan at the battle of Omdurman. Other major campaigns he reported on include the Boer War, The Russia / Japan war, and the French war against Madagascar, on which he published a book enthralling Western readers with hitherto rare information on this strange island. The French wanted him dead, but once again he lived to fight another day. Between the wars he was a well known author of Campaign books, a liberal bohemian and a "Friend of the Poor", running newspaper campaigns for the institution of Old Age Pensions, the clearance of slums and the problems of unemployment. Follow the exciting adventures across many lands and battles with the man regarded as the greatest of all war correspondents.