A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912

I'm torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars. I think it deserves 4.5 but I'm forced to choose. Given that there is so little on this fascinating war in English...I'm going with 5.If you can't read Italian or Turkish, then this is the work for you on this fascinating little war, that was the immediate precursor to the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 (they start as this ends) which then leads to WW I. This work will give you great insight into problems facing both Italy and Turkey regarding their military capabilities (really lack thereof), leaders, foreign policies, and current & future alliance entanglements. The author does a great job bringing home the geo-political strategic realities of all the main players in regard to both Italy and Turkey.The book absolutely shines at telling the story of the pre-war issues that drove Italy's desires as well as the post-war failure of Italy to actually hold and consolidate its "victory". The second to last chapter, 14 Peace, does a masterful job quickly discussing the post-war ramifications to Italy and "Libya" both in the fighting that continued, esp. in 1915-16, as well as the eventual pacification in the 1920s-30s. So the author makes sure we know the necessary histories of both Turkey and Italy going back to the 19th century as well as the relationship of this war with WW I and even beyond. Great job here!And while the work is a bit more focused on the strategic level, the author does bring out the operational and tactical levels. There are many nice excerpts from the writings of journalists who were there as well as various officers on both sides that gives a good bird's-eye view of the various battles, both on the coast and inland.I also greatly appreciated his fairness. Stephenson goes out of his way to present at least two sides to any multi-sided view. So we get the views of the Italians and those who are pro-Italian, as well as the Turks and those who are pro-Turkish. Obviously, both sides are highly partisan. He goes the extra step to try and sort out the "reality", either using a more neutral source of the time or a later secondary source that has delved into the conflicting viewpoints. So this includes everything from battles to atrocities. On both sides. There are no innocent here.The global geo-political viewpoints are kept in view without either overpowering the narrative or being neglected. Stephenson does a great job explaining the thoughts of the Italian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister who end up driving Italy into war, determining her strategy, and work to extricate her from the war. But equally important, we know the viewpoints of Austria-Hungary, England, France, Germany and Russia. We often read the various thoughts of both foreign secretaries and diplomats. I will say, I didn't get the same level of comfort in regard to the thoughts of the various Turkish politicians and leaders in Constantinople. I wonder if there is an issue with being able to read Turkish documents? Though Stephenson does do a good job with the thoughts of the Turkish military leaders on the ground in Africa.Stephenson does a great job integrating the new military technologies into both the pre-war view, the actual fighting, and the post-war analysis. So this includes big gun naval support of amphibious landings, aeroplanes, zeppelins, radios, and land vehicles.The work reads easily and in good order. He keeps the chapters nicely focused. Though, as with so many books on various conflicts, far more space is dedicated to the pre-war and early war. Felt like the second half of the conflict, say from May of 1912 on, was skimped over a bit, at least as compared to the first half. And the maps do a terrible job supporting these later conflicts!Finally, the notes, bibliography, and pictures are excellent. Absolutely first rate. And the cover is gorgeous.But that doesn't mean the work is perfect. The primary disappointments:1. The maps! There are not enough of them. They are far too SMALL. They fail to cover all of the areas on Africa, esp. in the south. They fail to cover many battles mentioned! There is no one map showing ALL of the Southern Sporades, aka the Dodecanese Islands! Quite too many horrible map oversights. Made even worse because there is no index of maps. I had to do my own index, which came in handy at various times while reading. There are 11 maps. So whoever was responsible for the maps, consider yourself to have abjectly failed. To the great detriment of the otherwise wonderful work.2. There is only one short index and it covers only names. So God help you if you need to use an index to find a place or warship or something that is not a person. You won't find it. (There is no listing of maps, tables, or pictures.)3. There are lengthy captions to many of the great pictures. Which duplicate the text in the work. So you find yourself reading the same text twice.4. The print is SMALL. I got used to it quickly but I can see how many could have issues.

An impressive effort, rich in detail (too rich in some chapters) on what is probably mostly a forgotten war to the world at large but which in many ways would reflect the World War to come: The Italians invaded the Ottoman provinces Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (modern Libya), and got bogged down in a war that ultimately stalled at the strategic level but was filled with the much the same drama, bloodshed, brutality, arrogance, folly, and shaky implementation of modern inventions (planes, wireless, armored cars) on the ground. That's perhaps the key tension in this book - and my one big critique: There's so much detail from battleship gun calibres to endless quotations from powerless diplomats. Sometimes it shines through, especially in the moody and sometimes horrible stories from the front, and becomes gripping, but at other times it stalls the narrative and this reader's mind begins to drift and flick through pages to get to something more exciting.The problem is, as is admitted throughout the book by the author, that very little is accomplished each time one actor tries something. It is simply not possible. The Ottomans are too weak and so, in their own way, are the Italians, once they grab the coastline, to force a decisive outcome. At the same time everyone is caught up in power-politics of the day, trying not to offend any Power (France, Russia, Austria-Hungary or Britain) to which they are either allied or from whom they look for favorable intervention. Austria (then allied to Italy) has a fit, for example, each time the overwhelmingly superior Italian Navy does something near the Balkans, so aside from grabbing the Dodocanese and a torpedorun on the Dardanelles, Italy choses to be stuck in the sand, literally, in Libya. And then - like a Deus Ex Machina - a peace treaty comes about, simply because the Ottomans cannot draw it out any longer, as one Balkan state after another begins to take a bite out of the crumbling 'empire' (First Balkan War): But the stalemate in Libya (Tripolitania/Cyrenaica) is unchanged!I am not sure if the author aimed at narrative history a la Massie, but it seems like it, with all the quotations flung around (and some of them quite good) plus the tales of little dramas from various places on the front. But it falls short, since we lack either characters to identify with and/or the sense that they are able to force an outcome. This sense - that everybody is just going through the motions - is the book's weakness, since it could probably have been mitigated by tighter storytelling, removing some of the fluff, concentrating more on some of the personages (e.g. Enver Pasa or one of the Italian generals - Fara perhaps).On the other hand, it is great to see the conflict from so many levels and being presented with so many mood-setters, whether pictures or descriptions of the first bombing runs from airplanes, naval assets in the Red Sea or prosaic desert descriptions from foreign correspondents. I actually love that very much. But, as said, it is too much and it lacks some strong, central drivers of storytelling which might have come about through more focus.Even so, this books deserves four stars for its scope and depth. And what you can do, if you are not a sucker for all the details, is simply to make our own focus. The chapters and different sections are relatively easy to single out as delving more or less on one theme. So if you are into naval history (as I am) the first chapters will appeal to you, as well as some of the middle chapters (the Aegaen actions) and the descriptions of the naval support of the landings, perhaps. You just have to flip a bit back and forth, or use the Kindle search function, to get this overview yourself of where those good bits are and the concentrate on those - if that is your drug. Or vice versa with the desert action or diplomacy. Read it through casually at first and get this overview and then dive back in and enjoy the parts that interest you more. Trying to read everything from A-Z will be challenging because there are so many 'stops' along the way and nothing decisively really happens in this war.But it is a great, great platform for showing us almost everything else about the time, especially the prevalent thinking in politics and military matters, and how this ultimately lead to a much bigger war only two years later.

The subject is an obscure one and of course overshadowed by the apocalypse of the First World War and the Balkans Wars. It is interesting particularly as it is essentially the end of the expansionist period of colonialism when there was not much "left to steal" and describes well Italy's grab for that last dubious prize.The author does an unusual thing in being entirely honest about the significance of the subject - so many histories try to make a case for their subject being the essence of some great moment in history - which is not done here, in fact to the point where he undersells more than perhaps is right.The book might have benefitted from having more detail on how the characters fit into the context of the next few years, as many characters appear in this brief chapter whose names will recur in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and in Italy's experience in WWI. Certainly their fates must have been influenced by this experience if perhaps not determined by it. I would also have liked to seen more detail as prelude on the organization of the Italian Army as it entered the conflict, explaining the organization of of the various unit types often mentioned.

I wanted to find out more about this conflict and was not disappointed by this book. It is quite detailed - to judge by the 50 pages of notes and bibliography - and well presented. Although the paperback book itself may be judged to be normal sized, a small font has enabled a lot to be squeezed it. There are various photographs and maps. I am happy to recommend it.The book includes useful explanations of Italy's and the Ottoman empire's pre-war situations and interestingly how both powers constantly eyed and sought to influence the attitudes of the Great Powers, one hoping to avoid their intervention, the other hoping for it. The war's impact on the two powers, even how it affected the Italian armed forces' reputation during the rest of the century, is also discussed.The book's title very aptly illustrates what Italy got out its acquisition of Libya. Of similar insight is the author's summation of the Italy-Ottoman war: '[it] was a conflict of choice on Italy's part and may be reasonably viewed as a strategic blunder of massive proportions' and he also questions whether recent conflicts show we're any the wiser.

A brilliant book, with amazing research. I am using it as background material for a historical fiction novel based on the life of my Libyan mother-in-law, now passed on, God rest her gentle soul. Of course I am using many books to help me but this one gave such profound details which illuminate the age and answer many of my questions.Nita Nicholson (Author: Chameleon in my Garden)05.11.15

Good book on aneglected subject. Decent coverage of armies,tactics and weapons. The most important land battles are explained in detail sufficient for a good understanding or even wargaming. Plenty maps,not great though that's why only four stars.

The book is fine - ideal for my son's history research. However, I am not at all happy with the extortionate mark up in price. I paid £45.97 plus P&P for a book that has £14.99 printed on the cover! I will think twice in future, when ordering books etc and carry out more research on the advertised price.

excellent view of a normally difficult to find