Gallipoli 1915

by Tim Travers

Why was the Allied naval assault of February 1915 so unsuccessful? Did the Ottoman Turks have knowledge of the Allied landings of 25 April 1915? And did Sir Ian Hamilton, the overall commander of the Allied forces at Gallipoli, really make a mistake in his intervention at Suvla? These questions and the key issue of why the Ottoman Turks won the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, or why the Allies lost it, have never been satisfactorily answered. This new history of the Gallipoli campaign finally answers these questions, while also telling the story of what actually happened through the voices of British, Australian and Turkish soldiers. Part of the Battles & Campaigns series, edited by Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford. Tim Travers is Professor of History at the University of Calgary in Canada. His great uncle was killed in action at Gallipoli and the author has dedicated the last five years to finding out what really went wrong for the Allies in 1915. His other books include The Killing Ground and he has contributed to The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War and The Oxford History of the British Army.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, Historical, World War I, Military History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Tim Travers is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Calgary.

Reviews

[Armin]

Travers räumt gründlich mit Vorurteilen und opportunistischen Schuldzuweisungen von Leuten auf, die sich schon vorher auf den Tod nicht ausstehen konnten. Selbstüberschätzung, veraltete Vorstellungen von Heldentum, nachlässige Logistik und persönliche Faulheit, jeder nur erdenkliche Faktor trug zum Scheitern des Coups bei Gallipoli bei.

[Sobia Raja]

It's surprising how little information we are given on Gallipoli when we are constantly reminded about a war that occurred less than 90 years ago (that's WWII if don't know which I'm talking about), but what's more surprising is how much impact Gallipoli has had on individual lives and the world yet it is something that I only heard about now. Very shocking but true. I must say, this has never been taught to me in primary school not high school so I blame schools for depriving me of such useful insight into the past of this world!

This book was written with so much detail and emotion as well as detachment that I can give it no less than 3 stars. I heard about all sides of this Gallipoli war and it was probably the best book I would be able to find about this Gallipoli war since, as written in several reviews, it is the first to take into account of both the Allied sides and the Turkish sides. Hence, I'm very glad that I picked this book or else I would have received some biased viewpoints from authors and would end up having no interest on such events for a really long time.

It was truly a great way for me to understand history in the words of soldiers themselves and the great nephew of one of the soldier, Hugh Price Travers - the great uncle of the great author of this book. :)

[Mark]

Travers’ study of the Gallipoli campaign provides fresh perspectives for the first time really bringing a perspective from the Turkish sources. This allows Travers to challenge some of the myths around the campaign regarding Turkish resilience to continue to resist. ‘One more push’ would likely not have succeeded! The chronological study through the campaign makes sense but means the reader is bounced around the protagonists that can sometimes be confusing. No understanding of this campaign is complete without this book and the broader Turkish view.

[Brian Bigelow]

There has been little information on this conflict and this book is an honest attempt to answer many of the questions. A lot of research has obviously been done. Some of it I've never seen in any other books on the subject. Being a dense read it can be a bit difficult to get into at times. All in all it's a good effort.

[Vikas Datta]

Hugely absorbing account of a doomed venture and the heroism it saw...

[Stanley Harder]

I wanted to finally get the scoop on what happened at Gallipoli in 1915. I knew beforehand that this became the biggest debacle of Winston Churchill's life, costing him many years of wandering in the political wilderness of British politics. Having read again of this campaign through the eyes of Oswald Chambers it renewed my interest.

This was the only book that seemed to focus on what went wrong causing so much embarrassment to England's most famous PM. However, I will warn you that the author takes you into the minute details of the campaign and the consequent defeat of the Allied forces in that region.

The takeaway is that British military strategy and organization was more at fault than any one individual. The constantly fluctuating and competing opinions, theories, and egos that warred within the British system contributed massively to failure and the death of more than 100,000 Allied troops. I did not finish the book; the detailing of minutae and memos was too much for even my considerable patience. Be forwarned.

[John Vanek]

This is the longest 400 page book I've ever read. Great if you are writing a paper on the campaign but painfully slow for a casual reader.

[Dave]

Excellent.

Gallipoli 1915 was excellent. There was quite a bit of info I had not encountered in other books about the same subject. The author had s good grasp of his material.

[Stephen McCarthy]

A decent book that takes a closer look at the reasons for Allied failure and highlights the Turkish successful defence with a balanced view. Enjoyable