Modern Crusaders An Account Of The Campaign In Sinai And Palestine Up To The Capture Of Jerusalem

Dunes, sandstorms, freezing crags and searing heat; these are not the usual images of World War I. For many men from all over the British Empire, this was the experience of the Great War. Based on soldiers' accounts, this book reveals the hardships and complexity of British Empire soldiers' lives in this oft-forgotten but important campaign.

The first full-length study of the experience and memory of British and Dominion soldiers in the Middle East and Macedonia during WWI.

Includes its Report, 1896-19 .

“A compelling tale of how this spiritually and politically charged area of the globe has long been a place of pivotal battles” (Library Journal). Today’s Arab-Israeli conflict is merely the latest iteration of an unending history of violence in the Holy Land—a region that is unsurpassed as witness to a kaleidoscopic military history involving forces from across the world and throughout the millennia. Holy Wars describes three thousand years of war in the Holy Land with the unique approach of focusing on pivotal battles or campaigns, beginning with the Israelites’ capture of Jericho and ending with Israel’s last full-fledged assault against Lebanon. Its chapters stop along the way to examine key battles fought by the Philistines, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, and Mamluks—the latter clash, at Ayn Jalut, comprising the first time the Mongols suffered a decisive defeat. The modern era saw the rise of the Ottomans and an incursion by Napoleon, who only found bloody stalemate outside the walls of Akko. The Holy Land became a battlefield again in World War I when the British fought the Turks. The nation of Israel was forged in conflict during its 1948 War of Independence, and subsequently found itself in desperate combat, often against great odds, in 1956 and 1967, and again in 1973, when it was surprised by a massive two-pronged assault. By focusing on the climax of each conflict, while carefully setting each stage, Holy Wars examines an extraordinary breadth of military history—spanning in one volume the evolution of warfare over the centuries, as well as the enduring status of the Holy Land as a battleground.

"Allenby's Military Medicine" examines a little-known feature of World War I as it was fought in the Middle East - the contribution made by the practice of military medicine to the success of Egyptian Expeditionary Force. In stark contrast with operations in the Boer War and some other First World War theatres of combat, which Eran Dolev describes as "medical disasters", the Palestine Campaign was marked by efficient and effective medical service. Dolev describes how this great achievement was inspired by General Allenby's uniquely attentive attitude towards the health of the troops and to military medicine. This is especially seen in the crucial area of fighting epidemic diseases like malaria, a major threat to a healthy fighting force at the time. Dolev also describes the general developments in military-medical organisation and surgery on the battlefield during these campaigns. The author's extensive and original research into military medicine is incorporated into an account of the campaign itself, demonstrating the degree to which the army's success depended on its medical support. The story of military medicine during the Palestine Campaigns is a story of exemplary relations between the command and the doctors in the field. The challenges they faced and their response constitute an exceptional chapter in the history of military medicine during the Great War.