The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire and Germany's Bid for World Power, 1898-1918 (Paperback)

In this excellent, well-researched and fascinating book, Sean McMeekin has given us a welcome and stimulating perspective on a highly important but neglected part of the First World War. His account of the Turco-German war effort is a tale of high adventure, ambition and political chicanery with a cast of colourful, brave and sometimes ruthless characters. An exciting new book by a talented young historian McMeekin adds a wealth of documentation...[t]he result is a captivating new history of the Eastern Front in the first world war McMeekin has written an engaging history peopled with larger-than-life characters in exotic settings McMeekin has written a powerful, overdue book that for many will open up a whole new side to the first world war. In addition to bringing to life a fascinating episode in early 20th-century history, The Berlin-Baghdad Express contains several timely lessons and cautionary tales. Sean McMeekin's account possesses the large merit that it tells a story little known to Western readers, drawing extensively upon German sources. It depicts a splendid cast of characters heroic in their endeavors if absurd in their lack of accomplishments.