Climax at Gallipoli

The Failure of the August Offensive

By: Rhys Crawley

Narrated by: Fred Humberstone

Gallipoli: the mere name summons the story of this well-known campaign of the First World War. And the story of Gallipoli, where in August 1915 the Allied forces made their last valiant effort against the Turks, is one of infamous might-have-beens. If only the Allies had held out a little longer, pushed a little harder, had better luck, Gallipoli might have been the decisive triumph that knocked the Ottoman Empire out of the First World War. But the story is just that, author Rhys Crawley tells us: a story. Not only was the outcome at Gallipoli not close, but the operation was flawed from the start, and an inevitable failure.

A painstaking effort to set the historical record straight, Climax at Gallipoli examines the performance of the Allies' Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from the beginning of the Gallipoli campaign to the bitter end. Crawley reminds us that in 1915, the second year of the war, the Allies were still trying to adapt to a new form of warfare, with static defense replacing the maneuver and offensive strategies of earlier British doctrine. In the attempt both the MEF at Gallipoli and the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front aimed for too much - and both failed. To explain why, Crawley focuses on the operational level of war in the campaign, scrutinizing planning, command, mobility, fire support, interservice cooperation, and logistics.

The result is a view of the Gallipoli campaign unique in its detail and scope as well as in its conclusions - a book that looks past myth and distortion to the facts and the truth of what happened at this critical juncture in 20th century history.

©2014 University of Oklahoma Press (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"This book is highly recommended for all those interested in the Gallipoli campaign and in the operations of the First World War as a whole." (Robert O'Neill, author of The German Army and the Nazi Party, 1933-1939)

Comprehensive Analysis of Gallipoli Offensive

The book provides the Reader with a comprehensive evaluation of the planning and subsequent conduct of the August, 1915, offensive effort to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula by the Allied forces against the German/Turk forces. It presents a compelling argument for the reasons, most of which were ignored/undervalued by the Allied forces at prior to and during the Offensive Operations. The book is highly detailed and presents a logical assessment of this Offensive effort. The shortcomings of the Offensive is both frustrating and disheartening as they led to the loss of large numbers of personnel and material. The book does a good job of addressing issues that occurred on the peninsula as well as those at sea.
The book would greatly benefit the reader by providing illustrations/maps/photographs to help the Reader “follow along “ with the detailed discussion. There were times when I felt “lost in the details” as I was unable to find available maps of the actual operations beyond the “generalized” online maps. A PDF attached to the Chapter List would greatly strengthen the book and help the reader to be able to enjoy and understand much of the details presented. In my view, this is a gross oversight by the authors and I hope due consideration will be given to the preparation of a subsequent attachment in “an electronic format.”

I learned a lot and gained great appreciation for the thorough analysis presented.