A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912
4/5
()
About this ebook
The Italo-Ottoman War, as a prelude to the unprecedented hostilities that would follow, has so many firsts and pointers to the awful future: the first three-dimensional war with aerial reconnaissance and bombing, and the first use of armored vehicles, operating in concert with conventional ground and naval forces; war fever whipped up by the Italian press; military incompetence and stalemate; lessons in how not to fight a guerrilla war; mass death from disease and 10,000 more from reprisals and executions. Thirty thousand men would die in a struggle for what may described as little more than a scatolone di sabbia – a box of sand.
As acclaimed historian Charles Stephenson portrays in this ground-breaking study, if there is an exemplar of the futility of war, this is it. Apart from the loss of life and the huge cost to Italy (much higher than was originally envisaged), the main outcome was to halve the Libyan population through emigration, famine and casualties.
The Italo-Ottoman War was a conflict overshadowed by the Great War – but one which in many ways presaged the horrors to come. A Box of Sand will be of great interest to students of military history and those with an interest in the history of North Africa and the development of technology in war.
Charles Stephenson
Charles Stephenson is an established author on naval and siege warfare and the history of fortifications, with the following books in print: The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945, Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-40, The Channel Islands 1941-45: Hitler's Impregnable Fortress, The Admirals Secret Weapon: Lord Dundonald and the Origins of Chemical Warfare and Germanys Asia-Pacific Empire: Colonialism and Naval Policy, 1885-1914. He was Consultant Editor and a contributor to Castles: A History of Fortified Structures: Ancient, Medieval & Modern. He is also the creator of the three books that (thus far) constitute the Samson Plews Collection.
Read more from Charles Stephenson
The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean, 1942–1944: The Fleet that Had to Hide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stalin's War on Japan: The Red Army's Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, 1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Siege of Tsingtau: The German-Japanese War, 1914 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill as Home Secretary: Suffragettes, Strikes, and Social Reform 1910-11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMussolini, Mustard Gas and the Fascist Way of War: Ethiopia, 1935-1936 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Box of Sand
Related ebooks
Spain in Arms: A Military History of the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Spanish Civil War at Sea: Dark and Dangerous Waters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vincere: The Italian Royal Army's Counterinsurgency Operations in Africa, 1922–1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGallipoli & the Middle East 1914–1918: From the Dardanelles to Mesopotamia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The British Army in Italy 1917-1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Defence and Fall of Greece, 1940–41 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRommel & Caporetto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War in the Mediterranean Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flawed Commanders and Strategy in the Battles for Italy, 1943–45 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeace Won by the Saber: The Crimean War, 1853-1856: Great Wars of the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar in the Balkans: The Battle for Greece and Crete, 1940–1941 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Five Years In Turkey [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diary of a Turk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGallipoli: The Ottoman Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Struggle for the Dardanelles: The Memoirs of a German Staff Officer in Ottoman Service Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flying Cavalry: The Story of Cherkess Ethem and the Turkish War of Independence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuardians of the Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persion Gulf, 1883-1992 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Annals of the Turkish Empire: 1591 - 1659: The Most Important Events in Affairs of East & West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFighting for Spain: The International Brigades in the Civil War, 1936–1939 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks. Chapters I. to IV Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKrithia: Gallipoli Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRadetzky's Marches: The Campaigns of 1848 and 1849 in Upper Italy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mediterranean and Middle East: Volume I The Early Successes Against Italy (To May 1941) [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Suez Crisis 1956 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Air War in Spain: The Rise of the Luftwaffe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDefending Gallipoli: The Turkish Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFighting Brigadier: The Life of Brigadier James Hill DSO** MC Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapoleon and the Archduke Charles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle For Heraklion. Crete 1941: The Campaign Revealed Through Allied And Axis Accounts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
African History For You
Encyclopedia of the Yoruba Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Orishas: An Introduction to African Spirituality and Yoruba Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Boy [Seventy-fifth Anniversary Edition] Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nelson Mandela Biography: The Long Walk to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Sips of Gin: Dominating the Battlespace with Rhodesia's Elite Selous Scouts Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American Ideals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Africa's Gift to America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Original Names and Descriptions of God and Jesus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5MANSA MUSA: Emperor of The Wealthy Mali Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Congo: The Epic History of a People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Precolonial Black Africa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Black Biblical Heritage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Explorers: A Story of Fearless Outcasts, Blundering Geniuses, and Impossible Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sudan: The Failure and Division of an African State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great Kingdoms of Africa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dying Colonialism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related categories
Reviews for A Box of Sand
1 rating0 reviews