The Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill's Greatest Failure [Hardcover]

Dan van der Vat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2009

The riveting account of young Churchill's greatest-and almost career-ending-defeat

The British Navy's disastrous attempt to pass through the Dardanelles to Constantinople was a turning point in the history of World War I. Acclaimed naval military expert Dan van der Vat argues that the disaster at the Dardanelles prolonged the war by two years, led to the Russian Revolution, forced Britain to the brink of starvation, and contributed to the destabilization of the Middle East.

With a narrative rich in human drama, The Dardanelles Disaster highlights all the diplomatic clashes from Whitehall to the Hellespont, Berlin to Constantinople, and St. Petersburg to the Bosporus. Van der Vat analyzes Churchill's response to the obstacles he faced and describes the fateful actions of the Turkish, German, and British governments. With never before published information on Colonel Geehl's minelaying operation, which won the battle for the Germans, The Dardanelles Disaster is essential reading for everyone interested in great naval history, Churchill's early career, and World War I. The repercussions of that battle are felt more strongly than ever today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty is the central figure in naval historian van Der Vat's (The Ship that Changed the World) account of a disaster that prolonged the Great War by two years and laid the groundwork for the collapse of the czarist and Ottoman empires. The plan to take the Dardanelles strait was Churchillian in its conception: the boldest strategic concept of WWI, designed to simultaneously outflank a deadlocked Western Front and open a supply route to Russia. Its promise was thwarted by incompetent execution—beginning with Churchill's insistence on the navy forcing the Dardanelles alone, without ground troop support. The Royal Navy's predictable inability to push its battleships past the guns and minefields defending the Dardanelles forts in March 1915 followed the Allies' failure to intercept the German cruisers Goeben and Breslau before they reached Turkish waters and triggered the German-Ottoman alliance. An improvised land campaign undertaken with poorly trained troops whose senior commanders set unsurpassed standards of ineptitude ensued. General readers will find enlightening this extended demonstration of the contributions command can make to catastrophe. (July 14)
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About the Author

Dan van der Vat is a historian of naval history. He has written for The New York Times, The Times and Sunday Times (London), and now writes for The Guardian. He has written many books on naval history, including The Ship That Changed the World. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; First Edition edition (July 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590202236
• ISBN-13: 978-1590202234
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,715,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Egos + Incompetence = diaster, July 19, 2009

By 

L. Veid "Chronic Reader" (Beckley, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill's Greatest Failure (Hardcover)

The Royal Navy's attack on the Dardanelles, with the associated Gallipoli land campaign is well know as Churchill's worse idea in WWI. However, Mr. van der Vat makes it clear that Churchill had a great deal of help in bringing about this diaster.

The author does a workmanlike job of explaining why the British wanted to attack the Dardanelles, albeit with far too much emphasis on history, going all the way back to the immediate post-Trafalgar period. The conflicting ego trips among the senior political and military leaders are well presented, and explain why such an important military operation was conducted in such a poor manner. Everybody involved seemed to be making up the plan as they went along. It was very clear that the Royal Navy was in the grip of senior admirals who had not a clue as to operational and tactical realities after so many years of peace. The descriptions of the actual fighting are reasonably well done, but often confusing. Since I had only a cursory knowledge of this campaign, this book was useful to me, but I had to work very hard to get around some of Mr. van der Vat's obtuse prose.

The reader is "treated" to an extensive analysis of the post-war history of the region. While this may be somewhat intersting, it seems out of place in this book about a particular military operation.

The author seems allergic to charts, seldom including such in his books. This book, which covers a complex naval/ground operation occuring over months, has not one single chart or map. This is beyond the pale for any naval or military history. I also am uninterested in Mr. van der Vat's political opinions which consume the final chapter of the book.

Overall, this book has the feel of something cranked out to meet a contract, rather than to enlighten the reader. Too much of it is recycled from previous works and the physical quality of the book is below par.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, not a single map or chart!, August 19, 2010

By 

R. Jog "rj123456" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill's Greatest Failure (Hardcover)

This looks like a recycling of the author's previous books. While the background and postscript provide a very nice summary of the prelude and aftermath of the Dardanelles campaign (but not as masterly an exposition as "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East" by David Fromkin), Van der Vat's actual story is quite brief.

The fatal flaw is the COMPLETE LACK OF ANY MAPS OR CHARTS. Is the reader supposed to have an atlas open in another hand whilst reading this book?

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Another Dardanelles Story..., July 11, 2009

By 

Ender Kuntsal (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill's Greatest Failure (Hardcover)

I know van der Vat from his earlier book "The Ship that Changed the World", first published in 1985.

In his new new book van der Vat is telling the story of the first phase of Gallipoli campaign, the Naval blunder at the Dardanelles Strait. It is a short book to tell such a story; only 226 pages including the index. The Naval battle is told between the pages 49 and 145; less than 100 pages. The rest of the book is on the background of this campaign, the escape of German battle cruiser Goeben to Istanbul through a powerful British flotilla and the following court-martial (parts from his earlier book above), the later lives of the players and the modern Turkey. The naval war is told very briefly without any new matter added to what is already known.

The quality of the book itself is another area worth mentioning. The paper quality is very low (yellow/brown) for such an expensive hardback and not pleasant to read.