Dodecanese campaign lies in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, and had been under Italian control since the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. During Italian rule, the strategically well-placed islands became a focus of Italian colonial ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Rhodes, the largest of the islands, was a major military and aerial base. The island of Leros, with its excellent deep-water port of Lakki (Portolago), was transformed into a heavily fortified aeronautical base, "the Corregidor of the Mediterranean", as Benito Mussolini, the Italian leader, boasted. An early British attempt to contest Italian control of the Dodecanese, codenamed Operation Abstention, was thwarted in February 1941,
The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths is a bestselling children's book by Saviour Pirotta, illustrated by Jan Lewis. First published in hardback by Orchard Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group in 2003, it has become a favourite with many schools and families exploring ancient Greek myths with children aged five to eight. It has been reprinted ten times and spawned a series of stand-alone books with simplified text and more pictures. The book is part of a series of highly illustrated anthologies which also includes Geraldine McCaughrean's "The Orchard Book of