Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

The noted historian’s decisive and devastating history of the WWI Battle of Gallipoli “sets a new standard for assessing the Allied Dardanelles campaign" (Mustafa Aksakal, American Historical Review).

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 was an ill-fated Allied attempt to take control of the Dardanelles, secure a sea route to Russia, and create a Balkan alliance against the Central Powers. A failure in all respects, the operation ended in disaster, and the Allied forces suffered some 390,000 casualties. In this conclusive study, military historian Robin Prior assesses the many myths about Gallipoli and provides definitive answers to questions that have lingered about the operation.
 
Prior proceeds step by step through the campaign, dealing with naval, military, and political matters and surveying the operations of all the armies involved: British, Anzac, French, Indian, and Turkish. Relying on primary documents, including war diaries and technical military sources, Prior evaluates the strategy, the commanders, and the performance of soldiers on the ground.
His conclusions are powerful and unsettling: the naval campaign was not “almost” won, and the land action was not bedeviled by “minor misfortunes.” Instead, the badly conceived Gallipoli campaign was doomed from the start. And even had it been successful, the operation would not have shortened the war by a single day. Despite their bravery, the Allied troops who fell at Gallipoli died in vain.
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2009

"1116700871"
Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

The noted historian’s decisive and devastating history of the WWI Battle of Gallipoli “sets a new standard for assessing the Allied Dardanelles campaign" (Mustafa Aksakal, American Historical Review).

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 was an ill-fated Allied attempt to take control of the Dardanelles, secure a sea route to Russia, and create a Balkan alliance against the Central Powers. A failure in all respects, the operation ended in disaster, and the Allied forces suffered some 390,000 casualties. In this conclusive study, military historian Robin Prior assesses the many myths about Gallipoli and provides definitive answers to questions that have lingered about the operation.
 
Prior proceeds step by step through the campaign, dealing with naval, military, and political matters and surveying the operations of all the armies involved: British, Anzac, French, Indian, and Turkish. Relying on primary documents, including war diaries and technical military sources, Prior evaluates the strategy, the commanders, and the performance of soldiers on the ground.
His conclusions are powerful and unsettling: the naval campaign was not “almost” won, and the land action was not bedeviled by “minor misfortunes.” Instead, the badly conceived Gallipoli campaign was doomed from the start. And even had it been successful, the operation would not have shortened the war by a single day. Despite their bravery, the Allied troops who fell at Gallipoli died in vain.
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2009

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Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

by Robin Prior
Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

Gallipoli: The End of the Myth

by Robin Prior

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Overview

The noted historian’s decisive and devastating history of the WWI Battle of Gallipoli “sets a new standard for assessing the Allied Dardanelles campaign" (Mustafa Aksakal, American Historical Review).

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 was an ill-fated Allied attempt to take control of the Dardanelles, secure a sea route to Russia, and create a Balkan alliance against the Central Powers. A failure in all respects, the operation ended in disaster, and the Allied forces suffered some 390,000 casualties. In this conclusive study, military historian Robin Prior assesses the many myths about Gallipoli and provides definitive answers to questions that have lingered about the operation.
 
Prior proceeds step by step through the campaign, dealing with naval, military, and political matters and surveying the operations of all the armies involved: British, Anzac, French, Indian, and Turkish. Relying on primary documents, including war diaries and technical military sources, Prior evaluates the strategy, the commanders, and the performance of soldiers on the ground.
His conclusions are powerful and unsettling: the naval campaign was not “almost” won, and the land action was not bedeviled by “minor misfortunes.” Instead, the badly conceived Gallipoli campaign was doomed from the start. And even had it been successful, the operation would not have shortened the war by a single day. Despite their bravery, the Allied troops who fell at Gallipoli died in vain.
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2009


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780300159912
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication date: 08/11/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 305
Sales rank: 898,436
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Robin Prior is visiting professorial fellow, University of Adelaide, and visiting fellow, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy. He is the coauthor of Passchendaele: The Untold Story and The Somme, both published by Yale University Press. He lives in South Australia.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

List of Maps viii

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction xi

1 The Origins of the Naval Offensive 1

2 From Ships to Troops 20

3 The Worst-Laid Plans 35

4 The Rise and Fall of the Naval Attack 44

5 No Going Back 60

6 The Military Plan 72

7 Bodies Everywhere: The Helles Landings 89

8 A Perfect Hail of Bullets: Landing and Consolidation at Anzac 110

9 The Killing Fields of Krithia 129

10 Last Throw in the South 145

11 The Plans of August 160

12 The Assault on Sari Bair 169

13 Suvla Bay: The Scapegoat Battle 190

14 'War as we must': The Political Debate 210

15 A Campaign Not Won 221

Reflections on Gallipoli 237

Notes 253

Bibliography 272

Index 277

What People are Saying About This

Jay Winter

History of a very high order…. the best account by far of the campaign in 1915-16.(Jay Winter, Yale University)

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