The Sanusi's Little War: The Amazing Story of a Forgotten Conflict in the Western Desert, 1915-1917 - Rilegato

McGuirk, Russell

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0954479270 ISBN 13: 9780954479275

Casa editrice: Arabian Pub Ltd, 2007

Riassunto

This Is The Exciting Story of a forgotten war, fought out on the fringe of the great First World War campaigns. At its centre stands the tragic figure of Sayyid Ahmad al-Sharif, the Grand Sanusi, a charismatic Arab leader caught between the rival war aims of the Turco-German alliance and the British Empire.

In November 1915 HMS Tara, a requisitioned ferryboat, is torpedoed by a German U-boat off Sollum on the north-west coast of Egypt. The ninety-two survivors, nearly all Welshmen from Holyhead, are handed over to Turkish and Sanusi soldiers across the border and sent as prisoners of war deep into the Libyan Desert. The Turco-Sanusi Army then overruns Sollum and pushes into Egypt. The British, who occupy that country, are caught off guard by the suddenness of these events and are forced to launch a military campaign to expel the invaders. Thousands of British and Colonial soldiers are rushed into the Western Desert, where, over the next few months, four battles are fought before Sollum is retaken and the threat is contained. Finally, the Duke of Westminster leads a large column of Rolls Royce armoured cars and Model T Fords into Libya to rescue the Welshmen.

Based on original source material, The Sanusi's Little War tells for the first time the full story of the Turco-Sanusi invasion and the subsequent military campaign. The author describes in detail secret missions by the Germans and, separately, by the Turks to win the Grand Sanusi over to their cause and get him to launch an invasion of Egypt. He reveals the fascinating role played in the campaign by certain British officers, particularly Leo Royle, formerly of the Egyptian Coastguard, and links them to the Military Intelligence Office in Cairo. And, most unexpected of all, is his discovery that T. E. Lawrence played a role in these events and even went to Sollum just days before the invasion, to meet the Coastguard officers who are the story's principal characters.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Born In Boston, Massachusetts, Russell McGuirk was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Johns Hopkins University, where he studied Modern Languages, including Arabic. He went on to specialize in Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. He has traveled widely throughout the Middle East and North Africa. He lived in Egypt, working as a teacher and as a journalist for The Egyptian Gazette, and is the author of Colloquial Arabic of Egypt (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986). He also lived and worked as a translator in Saudi Arabia for nine years. He moved to London in 1983, where he ran his own translation company, Arabic Translation Associates. He is married and has two sons.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Arabian Pub Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0954479270
• ISBN 13: 9780954479275
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 332