Siege of Kut-al-Amara

Nikolas Gardner is Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the War Studies program at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

• Preface1. Charles Townshend and His Army: 6 Indian Division in the Fall of 19152. Townshend's Advance on Baghdad: September-November 19153. Retreat from Ctesiphon: 25 November-7 December 4. Outset of the Siege: December 19155. Operations of the Relief Force, January 19166. Deprivation and Defeat: February-March 19167. Innovation, Starvation and Surrender, April 1916ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

"The author's balanced presentation of Townshend as the architect of his own failure rests on a persuasive analysis of the ill effects on tactical operations of entrenched prejudices about the abilities of non-western soldiers. Nikolas Gardner has filled an unexplored niche in the literature on the British campaigns in Mesopotamia. The Siege of Kut-al-Amara will appeal to general readers as well as scholars interested in this remote theater of the First World War."—Michigan War Studies Review"Rooted in archival research and narrated with panache, The Siege of Kut-al-Amara fills a gap in the burgeoning literature not only on the Mesopotamia campaign during the First World War but also on the experience of warfare in the extra-European campaigns more generally."—Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations"Gardner has produced a bold and thought-provoking operational study, which is to be commended for presenting its argument in a clear and concise fashion. The Siege of Kut-al-Amara will prove a useful starting point for students and scholars wishing to explore the first half of Britain's campaing in Mesopotamia and raises challenging questions about the difficulties of battlefield command, even if some of the strategic avenues are left unexplored."—Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research"This book would make for an excellent case study in any military history lecture or seminar. Gardner provides a clear and concise guide of the key is- sues of the Mesopotamian campaign and the historiography around Townshend and military failure."—H-Net Reviews"Gardner, among the most promising of a new generation of military historians, has written a significant, archival-based analysis of the siege and of the use of the Indian Army on a large scale in a modern, non-European campaign [which] should cast useful insights on the pre-history of today's troubled Iraq."—Dennis Showalter, author of Hitler's Panzers