In 1915 the Gallipoli campaign was designed to break the deadlock in the muddy trenches of the Western Front by forcing the Dardenelles, capturing Constantinople, knocking Turkey out of the war and bringing supplies and arms to the Russians for their immense German Front. It was a costly failure. Using private papers as well as official records, Alan Moorehead re-creates the drama of Gallipoli with its tragic hesitations and missed opportunities. He describes the heroism of the British and Anzac troops who were hemmed within a few terrible acres of beach and hillside and permanently under shellfire.