The long decay of the Turkish Ottoman Empire -’the sick man of Europe’ – was one of the great diplomatic problems of the late19th century. In 1897, Greek perceptions of Turkish weakness in Thessaly, and the agitation of the Greek nationalist secret society Ethnike Etairia, resulted in a brief war, between March and June, in which the highly-trained Ottoman army under Field-Marshal Ehdem Pasha, after initial Greek advances, crushed them at the second battle of Velestino. This account was writen by the war correspondent who covered the conflict for ‘The Times’. Clive Bigham makes little secret of his sympathy for the Turks, with whose army he was ’embedded’ and of his corresponding contempt for the irresponsible Greek nationalism which he blames for the war. An ‘instant book’ giving a lively journalistic eye-witness view of an almost-forgotten conflict, illustrated with six maps of the military events in the Balkans, and three plans of the battles of Milona, Velestino and Domoko. There are several photographs too.
WITH THE TURKISH ARMY IN THESSALY
£18.00
‘Times’ war correspondent’s account of the brief Greek-Turkish war of 1897 in Thessaly. The author was with the Ottoman army and his book shows a strong pro-Turkish bias.