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Back to topBritain's Man on the Spot in Iraq and Afghanistan: Government and Diplomacy by Sir Henry Dobbs at the Apex of Empire (Paperback)
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Description
The newly discovered papers and colourfully-written letters of Anglo-Irish Sir Henry Dobbs, which form the backbone of this book, reveal his importance in the development of the modern Middle East.
An influential civil servant and Britain's longest serving High Commissioner in Iraq at a time when the British empire was facing increasing challenges to its once dominant position, he describes the difficulties of governing first in India then in the formerly Ottoman Mesopotamia during WW1. Here, Dobbs had to devise administrative systems while often at odds with his superior, Sir Percy Cox. In the discussions that followed the Third Afghan War, Dobbs manoeuvred between the different views in London and Delhi with great dexterity to negotiate alone with the Amir of Afghanistan the enduring 1921 Anglo-Afghan treaty.
About the Author
Ann Wilks, CBE, is an independent historian and former Senior Civil Servant. She has published articles in The British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies and the Royal Asiatic Society Journal.