The Four Feathers is a 1902
adventure novel by British writer
A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901,
Cornhill Magazine announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in the forthcoming year. Against the background of the
Mahdist War, young Faversham disgraces himself by quitting the army, which others perceive as cowardice, symbolized by the four white feathers they give him. He redeems himself with acts of great courage and wins back the heart of the woman he loves.