Young Australian and New Zealand soldiers who landed on the Gallipoli shores knowing nothing of the enemy they were to fight.
Turkish soldiers just back from fighting on many distant fronts.
The battle which raged for monts between these two sides and the unexpected ending.
Candles At Dawn is a novel for young people about two teenage girls one from Australia and one from Turkey who meet and become friends.
Their grandfathers had fought on opposites sides.
It was a war unlike any that had gone before events are described in vivid detail and the concepts of war peace enmity friendship and freedom are questioned.
"The awful irony of war as well as its borrors is implicit in this moving story of two families - one Australian one Turkish. Despite their differing national identities partly forged in the fire of war both famillies especially the Australian girl Peggy and the Turkish girl Zeynep share the same human warmth. So why do we fight each other?
This book explores the futility of enmity and is a hymn to peace and friendship."
Maurice saxby AM