Bombadier Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 My wife has an interest in history in general and would like to find out more about the Gallipoli campaign. Can anybody recommend a good book on the subject to give her an overview as to what was going on, when and why? Thanks in anticipation. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st east yorks Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Nigel, 'Defeat at Gallipoli' by Peter Hart and Nigel Steele. Anthony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waddell Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Nigel, I wanted to learn more about the Gallipoli campaign last year so I purchased a later illustrated copy of "Gallipoli" by Alan Moorehead. Very easy to read and plenty of great photo's. I know some will say it is dated, but I found it very good. Just finished Geoffrey Moorehouse's "Hell's Foundations". Cannot recommend it enough if she wants to learn about the affect the Gallipoli campaign had on a town (Bury) and a regiment (Lancashire Fusiliers). Regards, Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Les Carlyon's Gallipoli is well worth reading. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 "Defeat at Gallipoli" is the best "context" book I've read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Both the Hart/Steele and Carlyon books are worthwhile reading but I think the best "short" one volume history is Gallipoli 1915 by Tim Travers. Regards, Jonathan S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Possibly a bit old-fashioned now (it was written, I believe, in the 1960's) Robert Rhodes James's book Gallipoli is always worth reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Nulty Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 I used Moorehead's "Gallipoli" when I was in the position of wanting a good overview of the campaign. A lot of the events prior to the landing of the troops was new to me and provided a really useful context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gem22 Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Nigel All the books that have been recommended so far are very good but I suspect that all of them, especially Carlyon, are a bit too much for someone seeking a basic understanding of Gallipoli. To that extent I would like to recommend a book that I believe is truly awful and an insult to anyone who is serious in their studies of the Great War. However my wife found it very useful when she started coming on my trips to the Western Front. Not that she's stupid, far from it, but she had no basic understanding of the war and this gave her a push in the right direction. The book is called: A Complete Idiots Guide to World War 1; the author is Alan Axelrod, and the ISBN is 0-02-863902-2 It covers Gallipoli in about 12 pages from Churchill to the evacuation. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem49 Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 For a basic intro I would go for 'Gallipoli 1915 by Tim Travers' ISBN 0-7524-2972-8. Although I also found Alan Moorehead's Gallipoli very good. Mine is a 1956 copy, so not sure if it is still around. Steve M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 To an extent I go along with Garth's remarks above All the books mentioned so far are excellent, but it is possible for one to be overwhelmed Moorehead is good, but to an extent his work was overtaken by Rhodes James Carlyon is daunting by its size, but is in fact an easy read (possibly benefitting for being written by a journalist rather than a historian) For what its worth, my advice would be to start with one of these three After that and when a basic knowledge of the chronology, the characters and the landscape has been absorbed then I would move on to Travers, Steel & Hart, Moorhouse, et al regards Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 "Gallipoli" by Michael Hickey (John Murray 1995- 1999 paperback) is also well worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snavek Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 My neighbour brought back from his tour 'Gallipoli, a turning point', it's a tour guide, not overwhelmingly detailed and, as it's written by tour guide Mustafa Askin, with a slight Turkish perspective. I cost a few euros but on the down side you have to send to Turkey for it. If anyone is interested P.M. me and I'll give you the email address. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razu Posted 6 April , 2009 Share Posted 6 April , 2009 Hi, All these books sound quite enticing. Andrei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob lembke Posted 7 April , 2009 Share Posted 7 April , 2009 Not a first book, but Klaus Wolf's Gallipoli 1915 is probably the best book to date from the German perspective (which is, of couse, not identicaal to the Turkish pov), utilizing data sources not previously used. It presently is only out in German and Turkish, but work has started on an English edition. Bob Lembke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melwar Posted 7 April , 2009 Share Posted 7 April , 2009 My vote goes to Nigel Steel and Peter Hart as well, and also Robin Prior's new one, Gallipoli: The End of the Myth which cuts straight to the heart of most of the issues. Very readable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razu Posted 7 April , 2009 Share Posted 7 April , 2009 Hi, What about Masefield John,Gallipoli? Thanks Andrei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadier Posted 8 April , 2009 Author Share Posted 8 April , 2009 Thanks for all the input guys. I am sure that one (or more) of these will fit the bill nicely. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aconnolly Posted 8 April , 2009 Share Posted 8 April , 2009 Les Carlyon's Gallipoli is well worth reading. Gareth I personally was disappointed with Carlyon's book as a campaign book - left it thinking the New Zealanders were not at Anzac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razu Posted 12 April , 2009 Share Posted 12 April , 2009 Hi, What about Masefield John,Gallipoli? Thanks Andrei Hi, Well this book might be a bit more than an introduction. So not a first choice for one's general overview on the matter. Thanks! Andrei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 21 April , 2009 Share Posted 21 April , 2009 For a short overview as a starter the "Osprey" volume "Gallipoli 1915" by Haythornthwaite is useful and has some neat maps. Both Steel & Hart and Hickey are very readable Travers does court some controversy and I am not convinced by some of his analysis. Alongside the more formal histories you can also get much of the flavour of the campaign from "Gallipoli as I saw it" by Joseph Murray - republished recently under a similar title. It's an engrossing first hand account and is a very readable of an individual's personal experiences with the Royal Naval Division. The more recent illustrated version of Moorehead benefits from the illustrations which seems to make it more readable. Carlyon gives a flavour of the place as well as the history and is well worth exploring. The French contribution is not well documented, especially in english. The New Zealanders story is set out in the excellent and very readable "Gallipoli - the New Zealand story" published in 1984 and written by Chris Pugsley. Hope this helps. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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