Lords of the desert
James Barr

Britain’s struggle with America to dominate the Middel East.

In 1945, Britain still dominated the Middle East, but her motives for wanting to control this vital crossroads were changing. Where Imperial security had once been paramount, oil was now a crucial factor. So. too was prestige. As their empire began to crumble, the British felt their claim to great power status hinged increasingly on their control of the region.

Unable to withstand Arab and Jewish nationalism, however, the British were gone within a generation. But that is not the full story. The United States helped speed them on their way.

Using newly declassified records and long-forgotten memoirs, including the diaries of a key British spy, James Barr tears up the conventional interpretation of this era, vividly portraying the tensions between London and Washington, and shedding an uncompromising light on the murkier activities of their men on the spot, from the battle of El Alamein in 1942 to Britain’s abandonment of Aden in 1967. A reminder that the Middle East has always served as the arena for great power conflict, this is the tale of an internecine struggle in which Britain would discover that her most formidable rival was the ally she had assumed would be her closest friend.