Armageddon: 1918

Great Battles of History

by Cyril Falls

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the British government realized that it had to keep the Suez Canal open at all costs because it was the primary sea route connecting Britain to its far-flung eastern colonies. The Suez bordered Egypt, a nominal Turkish province, and, when Turkey became involved in the war on Germany's side in 1915, Turkey attacked the canal. As a result the British declared war on Turkey and began an offensive against the Ottoman forces and their German advisers. The British, aided by various Arab groups, swept north through Palestine, Jordan, and Syria to Turkey's ultimate defeat in October 1918.In "Armageddon, 1918," eminent military historian Cyril Falls discusses the background of the World War I Middle East conflict and relates the final, critical campaign through Palestine, along with its notable personalities, including T. E. Lawrence, Emir Feisal, Kress von Kressenstein, and Edmund Allenby. Falls ends with a pertinent reflection on the subsequent history of the region, from the formation of Iraq in 1920 through the establishment of Israel, showing how the campaign in the Middle East brought into the international spotlight the tangled alliances and imperialistic and nationalistic desires that have left an indelible mark on the region to this day.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Cyril Bentham Falls CBE was a British military historian, journalist and academic of Anglo-Irish extraction.

During World War I he joined the British Army, receiving a commission as a subaltern in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He also served as a Staff Officer in the Headquarters of the 36th (Ulster) Division and the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division during the course of the war. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, and was discharged from the British Army with the rank of Captain.

After completing his military service, Falls wrote a history of one of the units he had served with during the war. His first book, 'The History of the 36th (Ulster) Division' was published in 1922.

From 1923 to 1939 he was employed by the Historical Section of the U.K. Government's Committee of Imperial Defence, researching and writing several volumes of the British Government's 'Official History of the War'.

During World War II he served as the military correspondent for 'The Times' of London, from 1939 to 1945.

After the war he held the post of Chichele Professor of Military History at All Souls College, Oxford University from 1946 to 1953.

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unless one is well acquainted with the geography of the theater in question, and probably with also with the personalities involved, they should expect to struggle with this book. Passages discussing T.E. Lawrence are among the most engaging, otherwise this record by noted Great War historian Cyril Falls is rather dry, discussing a few weeks worth of battles and advances during the closing phase of the First World War. If one has a keen interest in the campaign in question, Falls' book is worth the read. Otherwise, more accessible narratives about the entirety of operations in the Sinai and Palestine regions are available.