The Mandate for Mesopotamia is a short overview of British rule and influence in Iraq after World War I. It covers European imperialism in the Middle East before the Great War up to the 1941 Anglo-Iraq War. The history is generally well done but it missed the opportunity to draw parallels between the British and American occupations of Iraq at the end.
John Glubb was an English soldier and official in Iraq during the British Mandate. He was proud to serve the empire believing that it developed what he saw as primitive societies. At the same time he had some issues with the way that the Mandate was run. Most of his Arabian Adventure, Ten Years of Joyful Service is his impressions of Iraq’s tribal society which he believed was disappearing.
The Conflict In Iraq is an anthology with chapters by various authors connected to the Center for Defense Studies at King’s College London. Like any collection some of the chapters are quite good and others are not. The fact that the book was put together very early in the U.S. occupation of Iraq also makes some of the readings outdated. Still there are some important insights provided such as comparisons between the British and Americans times in Iraq, the war planning, and United Nations weapons inspections.
Barr, James, A Line In The Sand, The Anglo-French Struggle For The Middle East, 1914-1948, W.W. Norton & Company, 2012
In A Line In The Sand, The Anglo-French Struggle For The Middle East, 1914-1948 James Barr delves into the imperialist rivalry between England and France for control of the Middle East starting during World War I. When the war started the two powers wanted to carve up the Ottoman Empire with Paris having eyes on Syria and Lebanon and London on Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. Initially they agreed upon this division but then came into conflict. Barr presents a very interesting history of power politics, intrigue and terrorism that left neither nation happy.
Bell, Gertrude, The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II, Benediction Books, 2009
The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II collects together writings Ms Bell made to her family from 1874 until her death in 1926. It was put together and edited by her younger sister. Much of what Bell had to say was mundane such as commenting upon the hot weather in Iraq or asking for clothes to be sent from England. There are some insights into her strong character which set her apart from many of her contemporaries and her ideas about Iraq when it was formed by the British.
Klieman, Aaron, Foundations of British Policy In The Arab World: The Cairo Conference of 1921, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1970
At the end of World War I the English found themselves in possession of a large amount of Ottoman territory. London had made various promises to different groups which were often contradictory because it had no strategy for the region. In 1921 Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill organized a meeting in Egypt to attempt to find a solution to all these issues. The Cairo Conference came to shape much of the modern Middle East. That is the topic of Aaron Klieman’s Foundations of British Policy In The Arab World: The Cairo Conference of 1921. The author argues that Churchill was able to create a short term success for the British Empire which eventually collapsed.
Dawisha, Adeed, Iraq, A Political History from Independence to Occupation, Princeton University Press, 2009
Adeed Dawisha’s Iraq, A Political History from Independence to Occupation attempts to trace the history of the formation of the Iraqi state and its political system. He begins with the British Mandate when Iraq was created up until the middle of the U.S. occupation. His main theme is that Iraqi democracy has always been flawed.
Townshend, Charles, Desert Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011
Charles Townshend’s Desert Hell is one of the better books about the British campaign in Mesopotamia during World War I. It not only covers the military side but the politics as well up to the creation of the British Mandate in Iraq after the war. His main thesis is that the war and the formation of Iraq were dysfunctional from the start because there was no political or military strategy behind them.
Lukitz, Liora, A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq, I.B. Tauris, 2006
In A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq Liora Lukitz attempts to paint the personal and professional life of Gertrude Bell. The story constantly switches back and forth between those two aspects using her correspondence as a uniting factor. The author portrays Bell as a woman who fled the constraints of her upper class family in England for the adventure of the Middle East where she helped create the country of Iraq.
Bashkin, Orit, The Other Iraq, Pluralism and Culture in Hashemite Iraq, Stanford University Press, 2009
The Other Iraq, Pluralism and Culture in Hashemite Iraq by Orit Bashkin is about the role of intellectuals during the monarchy which lasted from 1920-1958. The author emersed himself in Iraqi books, poems, journals and reports from this period. Many histories have claimed there was no national identity which led to many of the country’s problems up to the present day. The author disputes that claiming Iraqi nationalism was established amongst the urban middle class and intellectuals.
El-Solh, Raghid, Britain’s 2 Wars With Iraq 1941 1991, Garnet Publishing Limited, 1996
Raghid El-Solh’s Britain’s 2 Wars With Iraq 1941 1991 is a tale of two halves. It covers the Anglo-Iraq War which was part of the larger World War 2 conflict as well as the Gulf War. The author argues that England has historically attempted to maintain the status quo in the Middle East which came into conflict with various Iraqi leaders. The coverage of first war is quite good while the section on the Gulf War reads like Saddam era propaganda.
Faught, C. Brad, Cairo 1921, Ten Days That Made the Middle East, Yale University Press, 2022
The 1921 Cairo conference held by British Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill helped create the modern Middle East. Borders were drawn, kings were installed, and a new policy of neo-colonialism was created. That’s what C. Brad Faught’s Cairo 1921, Ten Days That Made the Middle East focuses upon.
Franzen, Johan, Pride And Power, A Modern History Of Iraq, Hurst & Company, 2020
Pride And Power, A Modern History Of Iraq by Johan Franzen is a very dense history of Iraq from the Ottoman period to the present. It is chock full of detail after detail. There are some new bits of information relayed but the last third of the book that starts with the Gulf War falters. Its version of the 2003 invasion is especially disappointing making it an uneven book.
Benjamen, Alda, Assyrians in Modern Iraq, Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, New Delhi, Singapore: Cambridge University Press, 2022
Iraq is one of the most diverse countries in the Middle East and yet there are very few books about the different groups outside of the Kurds that make up the population. That means that Alda Benjamen’s Assyrians in Modern Iraq, Negotiating Political and Cultural Space is a welcomed addition to the canon. She focuses upon the struggle by Assyrians to achieve their rights within the country from the Ottoman period up to modern Iraq with most of the book focusing upon the 1950s-80s.
Lyell, Thomas, The Ins & Outs Of Mesopotamia, Washington DC: Westphalia Press, 2016
Thomas Lyell was a magistrate during the British Mandate in Iraq. The Ins & Outs Of Mesopotamia gives his views on Shiite Islam and why he believed that England should maintain its occupation of Iraq after World War I. On the one hand he was impressed by the devotion shown by Iraqi Shiites and dismissed Western criticisms of Muslims. On the other hand he was full of negative stereotypes about Muslims and argued that they were incapable of self-rule which was why the Mandate should continue.
Rey, Matthieu, When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East, Iraq and Syria, 1946-63, Cairo New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2022
Matthieu Rey in When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East, Iraq and Syria, 1946-63 doesn’t provide a completely convincing argument that parliamentary democracy became the basis of post-World War II politics in Iraq and Syria. Rey’s thesis is that during the end of the Ottoman period until the early 1960s a new elite emerged in Iraq and Syria that wanted Western style political reforms and pushed parliamentarianism as the way to achieve them. It expanded representation but also led to divisions which eventually ended the system. Rey does prove that parliamentarism persisted in both countries despite coups and would be autocrats. On the other hand he downplays many issues like corrupt elections, how assemblies lacked power and how there were never any substantive reforms. That’s why his book doesn’t completely pass the test.
Eisenstadt, Michael and Mathewson, Eric, Editors, U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq, Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2003
Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq the Washington Institute for Near East Policy realized the United States could learn a lot from the British time in the country starting in World War I. The Institute collected together a group of Iraq experts and had them write about the United Kingdom’s experience and then make suggestions for the Bush administration. The authors provided a good history and there were plenty of lessons for the U.S. to learn. As we all know the White House thought it had all the answers and carried out a costly and highly flawed occupation as a result.
Bashkin, Orit, New Babylonians, A History Of Jews In Modern Iraq, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012
New Babylonians, A History Of Jews In Modern Iraq by Orit Bashkin is an outstanding book about how Jews attempted to become citizens of Iraq and then how the state turned against them. She argues that Jews adopted Arab language, culture and the politics of the day. Things changed after World War II as the government and Arab nationalist groups began equating Jews with Zionism and persecuted the community leading to the majority to leave for Israel. Bashkin did a huge amount of research into Iraqi papers, journals and writers of the time which gives his book a great deal of depth as she covers territory that has not been discussed by others.
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.
Silverfarb, Daniel, Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941, New York Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986
Daniel Silverfarb’s Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941 is about how England tried indirect rule in Iraq from the 1920s-30s and failed which led to the 1941 Anglo-Iraq War. Britain agreed to Iraqi independence in 1932 hoping that it could preserve its interests. Instead several issues such as air bases, minorities, Arab nationalism, Kuwait, and the economy caused increasing tensions. Silverfarb presents a very detailed argument mostly based upon British government documents about how the UK's measures actually divided the two countries and led to war.
The Iran War has thrown Iraq into a crisis. It depends upon oil exports to fund its government. While sales are increasing...
