Review Three Kings In Baghdad, The Tragedy Of Iraq’s Monarchy

De Gaury, Gerald, Three Kings In Baghdad, The Tragedy Of Iraq’s Monarchy, London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2008

 

Gerald De Gaury had a long and friendly relationship with the Iraqi monarchy. He first entered Iraq in 1924 as an officer assigned to the Levies who acted as a local security force for the British. That’s when he met King Faisal. He later became an intelligence officer for the Royal Air Force in Iraq. After a coup in 1941 he returned to the country to become an aide to the Regent. He knew all of the kings of Iraq, most of the royal family and many of the leading politicians. Since he was an English colonial officer and only associated with the Iraqi elite he defended them throughout his book, Three Kings In Baghdad, The Tragedy Of Iraq’s Monarchy, and lamented their overthrow in a military takeover in 1958.

 

De Gaury’s main topic was the kings and Regent. His favorite was King Faisal who was crowned by the British. Faisal’s driving ambition was to get Iraqi independence from the English which he eventually achieved in 1932. De Gaury thought the king had the right temperament to deal with the country’s politicians and sheikhs who were constantly divided and arguing with each other. The author was less fond of Faisal’s son King Ghazi who was a bad student, loved fast cars and promoted Arab nationalism which was anathema to the author who felt the idea was a threat to British imperialism. De Gaury thought the third king Faisal II would be a great ruler but he was cut down by the military in 1958. The author also liked the Regent who ruled while Faisal II was a child. The author was a friend and confidant to the royals so he gushes over them. Outside of Faisal however he rarely notes what any of them achieved. Most of his commentary is about things like the Regent traveling to England to meet the queen. It’s more a view into their life of luxury. The result is that you never hear about things like how unpopular the Regent was.

 

The author’s support of the monarchy led him to overlook the many problems in the country. In one passage he said that voting was fixed by the ruling parties and the judges were corrupt often taking bribes. Still he went on to mention one election after another as if they were legitimate. He praised the Development Board which was created at the end of the monarchy to fund large infrastructure projects. Those were aimed at helping the Iraqi elite while the majority of the population was rural and living a semi-feudal existence. Again, since he only seemed to associate with the elite he has little on the common Iraqis.

 

The book is also a defender of British imperialism in Iraq. He notes that one of King Faisal’s closest advisors was Kinahan Cornwallis. He spent 20 years in Iraq, early on was with the king at almost all times and would later become the British Ambassador to Iraq. De Gaury wrote about the diversity of Iraq with its different people and thought a strong power was needed to keep it together which was the British who ruled the country under a League of Nations mandate from 1921-1932. Another time he covered the huge protests and riots that broke out in Baghdad in 1947 over a new Anglo-Iraq Treaty which was to insure London’s influence over the country. He blames a novice British negotiating team and the failure to print the treaty in Arabic for the disturbance and dismisses the public’s anti-English sentiment which was driven by their resentment against the UK’s power within Iraq.

 

The book ends with the 1958 coup and tries to give a blow by blow account of what happened to the royals. The crown was warned about a possible move by the military but did nothing. The royal family discoverd the coup when gunfire broke out in Baghdad. An officer told the monarchy that they would have safe passage out of the palace but then turned around and killed most of them. The Regent’s wife was wounded and saved by a soldier that knew her family. The Regent had his hands and feet cut off and was dragged through the streets. The Prime Minister Nuri al-Said hid at several homes and wanted the help of a politician to escape the capital and flee to the south but was caught and killed. His body was also mutilated and paraded throughout Baghdad. De Gaury blamed Egypt’s leader Nasser and the USSR for the coup not thinking Iraqis were capable of doing it on their own. Again, he ignored the rampant anti-British sentiment within the population and how that discredited the monarchy as puppets of London. Given his background and history in Iraq this was to be expected.

 

Three Kings In Baghdad gives a snapshot into the Iraqi monarchy from a supporter. A lot of the book reads like a biography of the kings and Regent with where they went to school, what kinds of cars and games they liked, their travels, etc. De Gaury was often with them at many of their social and formal events. To some Iraqis this is considered the golden age of modern Iraq before the string of dictatorships. Still, it is a view from the top of Iraqi society. The author’s refusal to acknowledge the bitterness many Iraqis felt towards British imperialism and the royals also leads him to misread many major events like the 1958 coup. That means Three Kings In Baghdad is good for background on the Iraqi monarchy but should be read after one already has some basic knowledge of Iraqi history.

 

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