Bücher der Reihe Middle East Classics

Even whether to call the Gulf 'Arabian' or 'Persian' is an unending argument. Regardless of its name, the Gulf is one of the most politically important regions of the world. Despite its constant presence in the headlines, the fact that it was part of the British Indian empire for many years has gone unappreciated. The long period of British control and the connections with India are, in fact, necessary in understanding the contemporary Middle East. With more than ten years of experience as a government advisor in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Paul Rich draws on previously closed archives to document the actual heritage of the area and dispel the myths. Rich shows that the influences of Britain and India are far deeper than commonly acknowledged, and that the sheikhs are actually the creation of the British Raj. He explains that they owe their thrones to a small group of British political agents_the 'Heaven Born'_who created the satraps and then proceeded to rule from behind the scenes by a clever use of stagecraft and ritual that was heavily flavored by their experiences at English public schools and in Masonic lodges. In its attempt to make sense of the complexity of Arab sheikhdoms in the Gulf, Creating the Arabian Gulf is an ideal book for students and scholars interested in Middle East studies and international relations.

Chronicling the British military's invasion of Iraq in 1917, Eleanor Franklin Egan was an intrepid American journalist who wrote an autobiographical account of her time spent amongst British officers in the Middle East during and just after World War I. Reading Egan provides contemporary readers with possible insight into how and why the United States has inherited the United Kingdom's position in the modern Middle East.

Chronicling the British military's invasion of Iraq in 1917, Eleanor Franklin Egan was an intrepid American journalist who wrote an autobiographical account of her time spent amongst British officers in the Middle East during and just after World War I. Reading Egan provides contemporary readers with possible insight into how and why the United States has inherited the United Kingdom's position in the modern Middle East.

To understand contemporary Iraq and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, no book provides a surer guide or more unsettling experience, written as it was for another war, another army, and another time. Gertrude Bell for a fleeting moment was the optimistic progenitor of the Iraq that today is becoming unglued.

Detailing two years in the life of a British political officer charged with establishing and maintaining British rule in the Kurdish district of Arbil in Iraq, this personal account provides a thorough discussion of Kurdish society from the viewpoint of Captain William Rupert Hay. Chronicling the British government's desperate attempts to establish a civil administration in Iraq just after World War I, Two Years in Kurdistan shows how, as member of the Indian Political Service, Captain Hay attempted to bring British rule to his corner of Iraq.

To understand contemporary Iraq and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, no book provides a surer guide or more unsettling experience, written as it was for another war, another army, and another time. Gertrude Bell for a fleeting moment was the optimistic progenitor of the Iraq that today is becoming unglued.