ISTANBUL - Two of Turkey’s most experienced historians of the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 have released a comprehensive bilingual guidebook to the battlefields of the peninsula, the first of its kind on the market. Released in May 2006, Gallipoli Battlefield Guide, written by Gursel Goncu and Sahin Aldogan, provides visitors to the peninsula with detailed information on 99 major sites of interest, including Allied and Turkish cemeteries, memorials and areas of historical importance in the campaign.
Set out in four separate sections, covering the Seddulbahir or Cape Helles front, the Ariburnu or ANZAC sector, the Anafartalar or Suvla sector and the Turkish rear area and coastal defences along the shore of the Dardanelles, the book takes readers through the campaign from its earliest days in late 1914 to its conclusion in January 1916.
Gallipoli Battlefield Guide is unique among the many guidebooks to the sites of the campaign in that it is produced in both Turkish and English, giving readers the opportunity to fully understand and know the stories behind the cemeteries, memorials and sites of significance of both sides.
With the Turkish government’s program of increasing the number of memorials on the peninsula, upgrading existing roads and building new ones, increasing the number and scope of facilities in the region and promoting tourism in the area, Goncu’s and Aldogan’s book becomes almost essential reading for visitors as it covers all of the new developments, making it the most up to date guide to the battlefields.
Each of the sites referred to in the book are accompanied by a colour photograph of the subject, while detailed maps utilising satellite imagery and exact directions allow visitors to find their way across the sometimes confusing landscape of the peninsula.
The authors, who recently released the critically acclaimed history of the campaign entitled Siperin Ardi Vatan, (The Nation Behind the Trench), have drawn on a wealth of primary and secondary sources in compiling the guidebook, making it a worthy addition to the collection of historians, visitors to the peninsula or just those with an interest in history and travel.
Gallipoli Battlefield Guide, published by MB Yayinevi of Istanbul, is available from bookshops throughout Turkey.
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