Turn Right at Istanbul - A Walk on the Gallipoli Peninsula

Tony Wright stuffs a copy of his great-uncle George's Gallipoli diary into his backpack and sets out from Sydney to discover how and why thousands of young Australians and New Zealanders make the trek to the Gallipoli Peninsula every year. Armed with a pile of notebooks, he plans to travel alone. But he keeps meeting and befriending people - a young Turkish archaeologist who reveals the secrets of Istanbul and the Turkish heart; a Turkish boy in Cappadocia who speaks English with an Irish accent; a Queensland girl paying her way to Gallipoli by selling Anzac beer-stubby holders; two Australian boys who end up running the rowdiest bar on the Peninsula; and Matt, a surfer from Coffs Harbour who insists on a sea view from his tent, even on the wind-blown Dardanelles. And then there's Tom, a 21-year-old leprechaun with the soul of a poet who teams up with the author, walking the battlefields of Old Anzac, sailing the Aegean in a barely-seaworthy ferry and muttering prayers to the souls that inhabit the ridges of Gallipoli. Anyone who has ever dreamed of travelling to Gallipoli should find this book a moving, inspiring and occasionally hilarious roadmap to the heart of both Australia and New Zealand in an ancient land. It is likely that before you have reached the last chapter you will feel like packing your own bag to follow the author's footsteps...