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.
Glubb wrote his book in the 1970s when colonialism was being criticized in the West. He refuted these ideas saying that empire helped people around the world with roads, schools, etc. That reflects his background as a colonial official in the 1920s. He wrote that it was his honor to serve showing that he was a proud imperialist.
His belief in empire led him to support British policy in Iraq. One of those was to support tribes to run the rural areas of Iraq. He writes that the Ottomans tried to dismantle the tribes seeing them as backwards. The British then came along during World War I and tried to revitalize these communities by picking sheikhs to run areas out in the countryside where the British and later the Iraqi government had little to no presence. He then goes on to note that the tribes were deeply divided and constantly raided and fought each other. He never seemed to realize that the British and later Baghdad were creating their own problems by backing sheikhs they picked who were struggling to survive and co-exist after the Ottoman period. That’s not to say that the different groups didn’t have conflicts under the Turks but they were obviously splintering and weakened by the time the Mandate was created so thinking they could help govern the country was just asking for conflict.
On the other hand, Grubb wasn’t without his criticism of British rule. The main thing was that he didn’t believe that Iraq’s tribes were ready for democracy and central rule and should’ve been left to continue with their traditional ways. This was driven by his romanticization of the past. He believed that the Bedouin’s helped teach Europe about honor and chivalry during Medieval times and that was something to be honored. This was disappearing under modernization which is why he spent so much time trying to describe Bedouin culture which he learned by traveling throughout southern and western Iraq. This reflected a common British view of Iraq at the time that the tribes were pure and heroic while the urban Iraqis were corrupt. This was also why the UK used a tribal policy to run the country.
As far as being a colonial official one of the author’s main topics was dealing with the Wahabi Ikhwan that came out of Arabia to raid southern Iraq from 1925-28. Grubb came up with several defensive plans to protect Iraqi tribes and shepherds from the raiders which the Royal Air Force, and the British and Iraqi governments were reluctant to support. Eventually they did however as the Ikhwan became a bigger and bigger threat. This takes up much of the last third of the book and provides information on the issue not seen in other books.
Arabian Adventures is not an essential book to read about Iraq. If one likes Gertrude Bell however this would be a nice addition as they both dealt with tribes and rural life in early Iraqi history. Grubb like Bell felt a real affinity for these people and spent many pages trying to explain his impressions of them and their culture. They were also both committed imperialists. The author’s perspective is also much different from many other colonial officials who looked down upon Arabs. Once again this has to be seen as part of the colonial outlook of the British at the time.
Link to all of Musings On Iraq’s book reviews listed by topic
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