In December 1914, with their soldiers 'chewing barbed wire in Flanders', British politicians looked for alternatives to stalemate on the Western Front. Their gaze settled upon the Dardanelles.
The Turks, recently defeated by lesser powers, couldn't resist the combined might of the British and French empires. They would run at the sight of the Allied fleet. Or so some chose to believe.
This book offers an unparalleled collection of first-hand accounts by those who made history and those who lived it, from prime ministers to private soldiers, from the offices of Whitehall to the dusty dugouts of the peninsula. All accounts were written at the time, without the benefit or bias of hindsight.
How did a naval demonstration to aid the Russians lead to the first amphibious landings on a defended shore in modern times? Was it a flash of strategic genius, a worthwhile gamble or did 'criminal idiots attempt the impossible'?
Gain a new perspective on the Gallipoli Campaign as you watch the story unfold with each passing day.