The Berlin-Baghdad Express

This title is winner of the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize. "Sean McMeekin has written a classic of First World War history...This superb and original book is the reality behind Greenmantle". (Norman Stone). "The Berlin-Baghdad Express" explores one of the big, previously unresearched subjects of the First World War: the German bid for world power - and the destruction of the British Empire - through the harnessing of the Ottoman Empire. McMeekin's book shows how incredibly high the stakes were in the Middle East - with the Germans in the tantalizing position of taking over the core of the British Empire via the extraordinary railway that would link Central Europe and the Persian Gulf. Germany sought the Ottoman Empire as an ally to create jihad against the British - whose Empire at the time was the largest Islamic power in the world. "The Berlin-Baghdad" Express is a fascinating account of western interference in the Middle East and its lamentable results. It explains and brings to life a massive area of fighting, which in most other accounts is restricted to the disaster at Gallipoli and the British invasions of Iraq and Palestine.

ISBN 0141047658   Pages 480 ISBN13 9780141047652 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 354 Publisher Penguin Books Ltd   Published in London Imprint Penguin Books Ltd   Height (mm) 198 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 129 Publication date 28 Apr 2011   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 940.3   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

In this excellent, well-researched and fascinating book, Sean McMeekin has given us a welcome and stimulating perspective on a highly important but neglected part of the First World War. His account of the Turco-German war effort is a tale of high adventure, ambition and political chicanery with a cast of colourful, brave and sometimes ruthless characters. -- Lawrence James Literary Review An exciting new book by a talented young historian -- Niall Ferguson Observer McMeekin adds a wealth of documentation...[t]he result is a captivating new history of the Eastern Front in the first world war -- Eugene Rogan Financial Times McMeekin has written an engaging history peopled with larger-than-life characters in exotic settings -- Eugene Rogan Financial Times McMeekin has written a powerful, overdue book that for many will open up a whole new side to the first world war. -- George Walden Observer In addition to bringing to life a fascinating episode in early 20th-century history, The Berlin-Baghdad Express contains several timely lessons and cautionary tales. Wall Street Journal Sean McMeekin's account possesses the large merit that it tells a story little known to Western readers, drawing extensively upon German sources. It depicts a splendid cast of characters heroic in their endeavors if absurd in their lack of accomplishments. -- Max Hastings New York Review of Books

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