Gallipoli

On 25 April 1915, Allied forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in present-day Turkey to secure the sea route between Britain and France in the west and Russia in the east. After eight months of terrible fighting, they would fail.Turkey regards the victory to this day as a defining moment in its history, a heroic last stand in the defence of the nation's Ottoman Empire. But, counter-intuitively, it would signify something perhaps even greater for the defeated Australians and New Zealanders involved: the birth of their countries' sense of nationhood.Now approaching its centenary, the Gallipoli campaign, commemorated each year on Anzac Day, reverberates with importance as the origin and symbol of Australian and New Zealand identity. As such, the facts of the battle – which was minor against the scale of the First World War and cost less than a sixth of the Australian deaths on the Western Front – are often forgotten or obscured. Peter FitzSimons, with his trademark vibrancy and expert melding of writing and research, recreates the disaster as experienced by those who endured it or perished in the attempt.

Peter FitzSimons is one of the Sydney Morning Herald's and Sun Herald's most popular columnists. He broadcasts daily on Radio 2UE and is a regular contributor to the International Herald Tribune and the London Daily Telegraph. He is the author of seventeen books, including biographies of Nancy Wake, Nene King, John Eales, Steve Waugh and Charles Kingsford Smith.Peter lives with his family in Sydney. Robert Meldrum is an actor, director and teacher with over 35 years experience. His TV and film credits include Blue Heelers (1994) and Georgia (1988) and he is a highly respected teacher and director. Originally a member of the Australian Performing Group at the Pram Factory in Melbourne, he has performed with all the major Australian theatre companies, and was a lecturer in acting at the Victorian College of the Arts for eight years.

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