Ian Hamilton

General Sir Ian Hamilton was a senior British Army officer whose career included imperial campaigns in Afghanistan, South Africa and elsewhere before the First World War. In March 1915 he was appointed to command the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force tasked with seizing the Gallipoli peninsula and opening the Dardanelles.

Hamilton directed the Allied landings and subsequent attempts to break the Ottoman defence, but the campaign became a costly stalemate and he was recalled in October 1915. The evacuation followed under his successor. Ian Hamilton was born in Corfu and died in London.

In Alan Bardos’ The Dardanelles Conspiracy, when diplomacy fails, the story moves into the military campaign at the Dardanelles and Gallipoli under General Sir Ian Hamilton. Swift must navigate rival embassies, factional politics and the influence of Ottoman leaders including Enver Pasha while his old adversary Lazlo Breitner works against him. Swift is carried from clandestine bargaining into the consequences of Allied strategic overconfidence, difficult terrain and determined Ottoman defence.