GALLIPOLI

by Alan Moorehead ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 1956

As journalism, spare, precise, only rarely- but then superbly- poetic; as history, complete in both detail and context, this dates from the intricate political tangle which finally drove Turkey into the German camp to the days of peace when ""lizards scuttle about the tombstones"" of the quarter of a million Allied casualties from the Gallipoli campaign. In passing, this is a vindication for Churchill, even a tribute to his skilled planning. But Moorehead transcends factualism and the refinements of its rendering. This is really literature, though its genre is unidentifiable. For two reasons:- the living intimacy with which all details, all persons, all atmosphere and sensations are evoked; everything is somehow transfigured, mere fact and circumstance become fundamental truth. The landing of troops at the wrong point, the total breakdown of communications, the untold waste of effort and heroism -- from the tragedies of Gallipoli Moorehead proclaims that human achievement is in the doing alone, and, in the final working out, undone by human ignorance, weakness, folly. A compelling work, enduring in interest. It deserves substantial promotion, individual enthusiasm to offset the inevitable apathy to the subject matter.

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 1956

ISBN: 0060937084

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION