Bloomsbury Britain in the Middle East: 1619-1971

Britain in the Middle East provides a comprehensive survey of British involvement in the Middle East, exploring their mutual construction and influence across the entire historical sweep of their relationship. In the 17th century, Britain was establishing trade links in the Middle East, using its position in India to increasingly exclude other European powers. Over the coming centuries this commercial influence developed into political power and finally formal empire, as the British sought to control their regional hegemony through military force. Robert Harrison charts this relationship, exploring how the Middle East served as the launchpad for British offensive action in the World Wars, and how resentment against colonial rule in the region led ultimately to political and Islamic revolutions and Britain's demise as a global, imperial power. Review In this succinct, sweeping, and spirited chronicle of Britains expansion into the Middle East and its ultimate retreat from the region, from the founding of the East India Company in the seventeenth century to the exit from Aden in the twentieth, Harrison expertly emphasizes trade, treaty-making, protectorates, costly military contests and wars, and European and indigenous rivalries. An imperial ideology identified the nations very survival with the defense of empire in the Middle East, especially in the strategic key, Egypt. Besides exploring the pivotal roles of British leaders, such as Palmerston and Churchill, Harrison examines critiques of British behavior by local influentials, such as Tewfiq and Ali. Britains legacy in the Middle East is mixed, argues Harrison. Through informal and formal means, Britain helped blunt the ambitions of other imperial powers in the region but suffered financial ruin at home while alienating the people of the Middle East and stimulating todays political volatility. --Thomas G. Paterson, University of Connecticut, USAMeticulously researched and vividly written, this is a superb historical narrative that illuminates the origins of many issues confronting the Middle East and the international community today. Harrison accomplishes admirably his objective of providing fresh analysis of the expanse of British informal influence and dominance in the Middle East from its origins in the seventeenth century through its painful withdrawal following the Second World War. Never losing sight of his larger purpose, he includes telling detail and profiles of key individuals that support his arguments. He invariably sees the forest for the trees and inspires others to do the same. --Thomas Howard, Emeritus Professor of History, Virginia Tech, USAHarrison provides a fresh and critical survey of a big topic By distinguishing between British ""informal' and ""formal rule"", Harrison makes some valuable points, but he also recognizes that British identifying themselves with empire, relying heavily on various native and European elites and mercenary minorities, often humiliated Muslim majorities, a legacy that gets much more attention these days. --Roger Adelson, Professor Emeritus of History, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA About the Author Robert T. Harrison is Professor of History at Southern Oregon University, USA. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and has over 30 years' experience of teaching and researching in the field of British imperialism in the Middle East.