In 1800 the British army's reputation was in tatters, having experienced nothing but failure in wars across the world for forty years; at home, a divided cabinet had to face the problem of Egypt, which had been occupied by Napoleon's Army of the Orient since 1798. The task of ejecting France fell to a disparate band of soldiers led by Sir Ralph Abercromby which, against all the odds, defeated the French army on 21 March 1801, bringing Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign to a definitive and crushing end. Piers Mackesy vividly brings to life the events of the battle, revealing how Abercromby's brilliantly-executed strategy restored the honour of the British army and averted disaster for the Empire.