- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd; New Ed edition (1 Aug 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0233984526
- ISBN-13: 978-0233984520
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,548,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
More than ninety years on, the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16 is still famous as perhaps the most disastrous, horrific and pointless campaign of the entire First World War. Masterminded by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, following Turkey's entry into the war on the German side, its aim was to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in western Turkey, allowing the Allies to take control of the eastern Mediterranean. But the campaign went wrong from the start. Ignorant of the terrain, and hopelessly underestimating the Turkish army, the Allies found themselves entrenched on the hillsides for long agonising months, through the burning summer and bitter winter, in appalling, dysentery-ridden conditions. By the time they withdrew in January 1916, the death toll stood at 21,000 British troops, 11,000 Australian and New Zealand, and 87,000 Turkish. First published in 1956, when it won the first Duff Cooper Prize, Alan Moorehead's book is still the definitive work on the campaign. Vivid, analytical and highly readable, with compelling character sketches of the main players, it brings the complex operation to life, showing how and why it went so wrong.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Alan Moorehead was born in Australia and served as a war correspondent in the Second World War. His many acclaimed works of history and military history include The White Nile and African Trilogy.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Alan Moorehead has done a good job with this book of describing the campaign both from the General Staff point of view and the soldiers. He also goes into detail of what the Turkish Army was doing as well - which is at times a novelty in other books.
My favourite snippet was of a meeting in a dugout between the British and Turkish commanders to try and arrange a ceasefire to bury the dead. In the midst of these negotiations an ANZAC soldier burst in and in their inimitable way asked the occupants if they had seen his kettle.
One of the more readable books on Gallipoli in 1915
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A truly excellent example of the military historian's art. Moorehead provides a compelling narrative of one of the First World War's worst military disasters with a mix of descriptive excellence and objective clarity which is mercifully light on military jargon. Both sides are treated with equal respect; due credit is given to the remarkable courage of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers facing their first battle and the dogged determination of the Turks to defend their homeland. Tribute is also paid to the often overlooked contribution of the British, French and Indian troops. Moorehead also resists the temptation to condemn the commanders as blimpish, upper class oafs intent on wholesale slaughter; they, like the unfortunate men they led, are simply human beings in desperate circumstances. In short, a fine evocation of the folly of war.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
20 reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
The Classic on Gallipoli
22 July 2002
Format:Paperback
Anything Moorehead wrote was golden, but this is arguably one of his best books. This has been reissued numerous times and it remains a classic. It is particularly good in its description of of the initial naval campaign and the general strategic overview. Although Gallipoli has rightly served as the emblematic battle where it is popularly thought that ANZACS were unduly sacrificed by the British in attempts at vainglory, Moorehead would be the first to acknowledge that there is no evidence that Australians were selected for slaughter over any other troops. The British (and most World War I strategist from all nations) were equal opportunity killers. In reality there were many more British troops committed, and killed, than ANZAC troops, and French losses were also considerable. Moreover the strategic aims were laudable. They were very nearly achieved. The bungling was not in the design, but in the fact that it was allowed to continue long after the jig was up, the British contained on the Penninsula, without a faint hope of forcing the straits with naval power. Moorehead, although an Australian, never bashes the British at all in this book. His exposition of Sir Ian Hamilton is also very incisive and offers a real glimpse into the mind of this man (a commander who felt for his troops, more than most in WWI) The fact that he was sacked, never to wield command in the field, is also testament to the fact that mistakes were made. Churchill's role is less clear. His initial idea was brilliant. He also did not want to commit land troops, thinking it too costly. He believed that the Royal Navy and her allies could force the straits and be shelling Constantinople within days.... And they very nearly did it. Unfortunately as Moorehead recounts, the political pressure of losing large, expensive battleships to mines was a price the British Cabinet would not allow Churchill to indulge and the pressure for a land based campaign therefore rose. It is really a pity because Churchill wanted one more chance to force the straits from the sea. There is every indication that he would have been successful and the costly land war averted. Plus ca change for Churchill.
PS: The cover photograph in this edition actually shows Canadian troops going over the top in a latter Somme Battle. Seems they could have easily found some original British or French pictures from Gallipoli itself??! I guess cover art was more important.
PS: The cover photograph in this edition actually shows Canadian troops going over the top in a latter Somme Battle. Seems they could have easily found some original British or French pictures from Gallipoli itself??! I guess cover art was more important.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
History made vivid and exciting
20 April 2000
Format:Paperback
I first read this text at age 19 in 1960 and was most impressed with its narrative skill and ability to bring to life the historical characters involved. I have since reread it and remain satisfied with Mr Moorehead's ability to make the events vivid and touching. I was especially impressed with his re-enactment of the actual landing, the incredible amount of equipment the youngsters had to carry, the reason the ships remained so distant from shore (afraid of touching bottom)the sense of distance those in charge had from the events they were supposed to be controlling, and the tragic sadness of it all. I was also impressed with the amazing courage he described the Turks as having so that the reader is not given the impression that the allies were just "better chaps" than the "Turkish infidel". Now at the close of the fifties in racist Australia at the time of communist and Asian indeed foreign paranoia this was refreshing and somewhat liberal to a young mind. One of the best and most enjoyable reads on World War One.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
a beautiful read, but...
30 April 2008
Format:Paperback
Alan Moorehead's Gallipoli is prose at its finest. this is beautifully written, and the scenes of battle come to life, as well as the everyday life of the allied soldier. However this book is now over 50 years old and much new information has come to light, particularly on the Turkish side. Also, many of the battles fought themselves, such as the battles at Krithia, Kum Kale, The Farm, The Nek, etc... on and on, are either completely ignored or scaled down and condensed so that you truly learn nothing about them. For a beginner who wishes to study Gallipoli this book is fine. For its superb writing style and life like narrative this book is superb. However for those wishing to learn the whole story of the Gallipoli battle read Les Carlyon's Gallipoli or Robert Rhodes James Gallipoli. Both of these books are excellent and well written, and both cover far more of the campaign as a whole then does Moorehead's book.
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