"The popular impression that [these] campaigns were merely a sideshow, with trops enjoying a holiday among the pyramids and the 'fleshpots' of Cairo, is far removed from the truth. Trrosp faced appalling heat, abrasive sand, poor rations, and water shortages. In the desolation of the Western Desert they fought the Senussi, an Islamic sect supported by the Ottomans, in a reversal of Lawrence's later work with the Arabs, while in the Sinai Desert they countered German-backed moves to dominate this strategically important area. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy fought to keep the supply lines to Gallipoli open, and keep men and materiel flowing to France from India, Australia, and New Zealand."--Book jacket.