A chapter of misfortunes : the battles of Ctesiphon and of the Dujailah, and the British campaign in Mesopotamia 1915-16

Whilst the British campaigns in Palestine and Mesopotamia during 1917-18 are well-known, the earlier phase of the war in this region is much less so.

In this detailed and balanced account, the author describes the British attempt to advance on Baghdad during 1915, culminating in the unsuccessful Battle of Ctesiphon (22 November 1915), their subsequent besieging in Kut, and the failed effort to relieve them at the Battle of the Dujailah Redoubt (March 8 1916).

At the end of April the garrison at Kut surrendered to the Turks, a huge blow to the British across the entire region.

Utilising war diaries, unpublished papers and even Turkish material, the author's work provides a very fair appraisal of a controversial and neglected phase of British military history.

The text is accompanied by extensive orders-of-battle, maps and photographs.