The Ship That Changed The World; The Escape of the Goeben to the Dardanelles in 1914

by Dan van der Vat

The exploits of the German battle cruiser Goeben at the outbreak of World War I changed the early course of the war and had a decisive impact on subsequent world history. Virtually alone in the Mediterranean, the Goeben eluded the French and British fleets and joined with Turkish forces, influencing Turkey to enter the war on Germany's side. Ludendorff estimated that this prolonged World War I by two years.

Genres: History, World War I, Nonfiction, Naval History

333 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Daniel Francis Jeroen van der Vat, born in Holland and educated in Britain he worked as a journalist for British newspapers including The Times and The Guardian.

His books on twentieth-century history include many works on Naval history.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book is spot on as the SMS Goeben really changed the world with it's escape to Turkey and the author tells the story brilliantly. The book is interesting and well written. The author gives great details about the lead up to World War 1 and the political situations around Europe, and then the start of the war, the Goebens escape and subsequent events. Really enjoyable book.

[Juniper Shore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ship that Changed the World is the story of the lonely pair of German warships caught in the Mediterranean at the outbreak of World War I. They might have been expected to fall easy prey for the navies of Britain and France. Instead, they pulled off one of the greatest diplomatic coups in history: they fled to Constantinople, joined the Ottoman Navy, and attacked Russia, thereby bringing the Ottomans into the war on the German side. By some estimates these ships extended the war by two years and led to the downfall of the Russian monarchy, to say nothing of the millions of lost lives and the damage to the world as a whole.

Dan van der Vat is a capable writer; his book about the Emden (The Last Corsair: The Story of the Emden) is excellent. This story has the same excitement and energy, but it suffers from trying to cover too much ground. The narrative jumps from the German ships to the French ones to the British ones, from London to Paris to Constantinople to Berlin. Readers trying to follow all the movements will need a large-scale map of the Mediterranean.

Unlike The Last Corsair, this book injects a substantial amount of the author's own commentary and interpretation. While this is a writer's right, it makes the text significantly less objective than it might have been. I personally like his touch. Van der Vat has the same cynical attitude towards politics that I do, but other readers may find it off-putting.

This is a thrilling and well-told rendition of one of the most fascinating stories from the First World War. It's a great introduction to the subject, but it does require some minimal knowledge of the history of the period, so it's not for complete beginners. On the other hand, real experts will prefer something with much more detail and a slower pace. Choose your poison.

[Doğan KONURALP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oldukça detaylı hazırlanmış, etkileyici, akıcı bir savaş hikayesi. Goeben’in 1. dünya savaşının akışını değiştiren olağan üstü etkisi belgeleri ile anlatılmış.
A highly detailed, impressive, fluid war story. Goeben's extraordinary influence that changed the course of the 1st world war is explained with documents.