Superior Force The Conspiracy Behind the Escape of Goeben & Breslau

In the first weeks of August, 1914, the German Battle cruiser, Goeben, and her accompanying light cruiser, Breslau, escaped the clutches of the pursuing British Mediterranean Squadron and took refuge at Constantinople, where they would later exert a decisive influence upon Turkey's attempts to remain out of the war. Various accounts of the escape have sought to apportion blame, with the Admiralty (under Winston Churchill), the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, and the Rear-Admiral, First Cruiser Squadron, all being found culpable to some extent. What no previous account has revealed, however, is the fact that there was an organized conspiracy afoot in Athens, involving the Greek Premier on one side, and the King and a serving British Rear-Admiral on the other, to facilitate the escape of the Germans ships. In addition to being the most complete account yet published of the dramatic escape, Superior Force reveals for the first time the extent of the Athens conspiracy and the ambivalent role played by Mark Kerr who, soon after, would also remove any chance of Greek co-operation in the major offensive planned by Churchill against the Turks at the Dardanelles. Few men can genuinely be said to have changed history; by his actions in Athens in the summer of 1914 Mark Kerr is one of those few. "Superior Force" is an important, informative, authoritative work of scholarship and an asset to any military history collection on the First World War.Miller, Geoffrey is the author of 'Superior Force The Conspiracy Behind the Escape of Goeben & Breslau', published 1996 under ISBN 9780859586351 and ISBN 0859586359.