Page 94 - History of War - Issue 10-14

REVIEWS

A BOX OF SAND:

THE ITALO-OTTOMAN WAR 1911-1912

Author Charles Stephenson £14.99, Publisher Tattered Flag
RECOMMENDEDREADING More than an overlooked scrap in that Hungary), while offering a fi g leaf of support
supposed pre-war idyll, A Box Of Sand: The to the Ottomans in order to mollify the Muslim
IN1867:BANANAS & Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912 makes a good population of the Empire. It’s this Quixotic –
CUSTER(SELF-PUBLISHED) case for viewing the confl ict as a full-blown and deeply cynical - attitude to confl ict that
Brimming with trivia, preamble to World War I. doubtless emboldened the Germans in their
maps, newspaper Following up a run-through of Italy’s troubled view that Britain would never stand by its
clippings and images, unifi cation with the steady march towards French alliance in 1914.
innovative iBook Bananas a North African war, from the moment that Drawing from copious Italian, Turkish and
&Custer peels apart a potential invasion of Ottoman-held Libya other European sources, Stephenson’s breadth
oneofthepivital years in is mooted all the players are aware of the and depth of detail paints as compelling a
historytoreveal the juicy instability this will cause in the Balkans, where picture as you’re likely to fi nd, from the debut of
fruit within. Find out more Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria are chomping at aerial warfare to the awkward alliance between
at www.in1876.com. the bit to seize more territory from the waning Turkish modernisers (among them Mustafa
Turkish empire, and the distress that this will Kemal – the future Atatürk) and fanatical
cause Austria-Hungary – the power with the Berber tribesmen.
MERCHANTADVENTURERS most to lose from a territorial feeding frenzy in Over a century on from the start of
(WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON) South East Europe. hostilities, it’s more essential than ever to
A awe-inspiring voyage of Britain too has a role to play, never understand the web of national interests,
discovery, James Evans’ opposing Italian aggression (in order to lure rivalries and ambitions that dragged the
Merchant Adventurers the ‘least of the great powers’ away from her world into World War. A Box Of Sand, then, is
followsanoverlooked Central European allies Germany and Austria- absolutely invaluable.
episode in 16th Century
seafaring, taking the “ A Box Of Sand makes a good case for
reader from Ivan the

Terrible’s court to the the conflict as a pre bl t WWI”
frozen North Pacifi c.
MAPPINGTHE SECOND The Ottoman gunboat Bafra sunk by
the Italian navy in the Red Sea.
WORLDWAR (CONWAY)
A fascinating document
for any historian, Michael
Swift and Michael
Sharpe’s Mapping The
Second World War takes
youhighabove the
battlefield through the
eyes of the meticulous
military cartographer.

LUSITANIAR.E.X (FILAMENT
PUBLISHING)
Historical fiction’s answer
to Titanic,Greg Taylor’s
Lusitania R.E.X adds
a narrative fl ourish to
first hand research and
explores the fi nal voyage A sunken Ottoman torpedo boat after
of ill-fated passenger liner the Battle of Beruit, February 1912.
and the theories behind
the sinking.

ARTILLERYSCOUT
(CASEMATE)
Arareintimate
examination of the US
experience in World War I,
JamesGBilder’s Artillery
Scout explores the blood-
soaked Western Front
through the eyes of his
grandfather - an artillery
spotter in the US Army.

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