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Signed copies of SUPERIOR FORCE are still available, priced at £25.00 each plus postage. For more information, please go to the ORDERING page.

The "Straits Trilogy"

Volume I: Superior Force : the conspiracy behind the escape of Goeben and Breslau
Volume II: Straits : British Policy towards the Ottoman Empire and the Origins of the Dardanelles Campaign
Volume III: The Millstone : British Naval Policy in the Mediterranean, 1900-1914, the Commitment to France and British Intervention in the War

These books provide a comprehensive account of British naval and diplomatic policy in the two decades prior to the Great War, focusing in particular on the escape of the German ships Goeben and Breslau [Superior Force], the origins of the Dardanelles Campaign [Straits], and the political and diplomatic imperatives behind the British decision to enter the war in August 1914 [The Millstone].

Each volume of the "Straits" trilogy is designed to stand on its own; together, however, they represent the fullest account yet published of the escape of Goeben and Breslau, the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and British policy towards the Ottoman Empire in the period 1900-15.

THE [AMERICAN] JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY
One may not always follow the author to the full extent of his interpretation, but at the very least he has demonstrated that [Admiral] Kerr would have had some difficult questions to answer … Miller is so skilful in analyzing the numerous errors on the British and French side that facilitated the escape of the Germans … this first volume on the Goeben episode will be indispensable for future naval historians.

THE GALLIPOLIAN
Geoffrey Miller, whose research for his trilogy has been monumental, reveals a tale even more fascinating than previously imagined. Nowhere more so than his revelations concerning the role played by Rear-Admiral Mark Kerr, Head of the British Naval Mission to Greece … This is a work of fine scholarship …

WARSHIP WORLD
Can anything new be said about the German battle cruiser Goeben , the ship which brought Turkey into the Great War and changed the world? Yes it can — and this book says it. Geoffrey Miller draws together and evaluates previously published accounts in the light of more recently available evidence, which itself provides a great deal of new information. Particular emphasis is given to the part played by Greece and that country’s British naval C-in-C (Rear-Admiral Mark Kerr) … Author and publisher are to be congratulated on producing a worthy contribution, not just to naval history, but to world history … a large, readable and significant work.

UNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE PROCEEDINGS
Besides the new information on the conspiracy, this is a comprehensive account of the whole affair, encompassing the political, diplomatic, and naval implications and providing a great deal of insight into the world-shattering events of World War I.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GREAT WAR SOCIETY
Fine as Miller’s account is of the events at sea, the book’s meat lies in the allegation in the subtitle, which advances a contention so novel that revisionistic is too mild a term for it. This is that three highly-placed individuals in Athens connived, directly or indirectly, to abet the escape … Miller’s version of events seems confirmed by his highly impressive research in primary sources … a valuable contribution to Great War naval literature.

CANADIAN MILITARY HISTORY JOURNAL
…an impressive book, and Miller is to be commended for his diligence in piecing together occasionally fragmentary evidence into a convincing argument. Furthermore, he has provided much new grist for people interested in debating the "what might have beens" of the Dardanelles expedition.

THE NAVAL REVIEW
The story of the ‘escape’ of Goeben and Breslau in August 1914 from the pursuing Mediterranean Fleet and their arrival in Constantinople has been told many times. It exerts a fascination because, without these powerful reinforcements, Turkey might have remained neutral in the First World War. Russian trade through the Dardanelles might have continued and the fate of the Russian Empire and of the whole of the Middle East might have been different. Geoffrey Miller not only knows how to make the familiar story exciting, he also reminds his readers of aspects of the escape which other accounts sometimes overlook … Superior Force is a valuable and readable contribution to naval and diplomatic history.

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Superior Force is an important, informative, authoritative work of scholarship and an asset to any military history collection on the First World War.

Copyright © 1995-2014.
Please note that all rights are reserved and that no part of this publication may be further reproduced by any means without the prior permission of the author, Geoffrey Miller, who has asserted his right in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.