{"product_id":"9781471139802-lords-of-the-desert","title":"Lords of the Desert","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBritain's Struggle with America to Dominate the Middle East\u003cbr\u003eBetween 1945 and 1970, America replaced Britain as the dominant power in the Middle East in an extraordinary role reversal. \u003ci\u003eLords of the Desert\u003c\/i\u003e tells this story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Beautifully written and deeply researched' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Upon victory in 1945, Britain still dominated the Middle East. But her motives for wanting to dominate this crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa were changing. Where ‘imperial security’ – control of the route to India – had once been paramount, now oil was an increasingly important factor. So, too, was prestige. Ironically, the very end of empire made control of the Middle East precious in itself: on it hung Britain’s claim to be a great power.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Unable to withstand Arab and Jewish nationalism, within a generation the British were gone. But that is not the full story. What ultimately sped Britain on her way was the uncompromising attitude of the United States, which was determined to displace the British in the Middle East.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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 in the Middle East, vividly portraying the tensions between London and Washington, and shedding an uncompromising light on the murkier activities of a generation of American and British diehards in the region, from the battle of El Alamein in 1942 to Britain’s abandonment of Aden in 1967.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Reminding us 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Bustles impressively with detail and anecdote' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Consistently fascinating’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Barr draws on a rich and varied trove of sources to knit a sequence of dramatic episodes into an elegant whole. Great events march through these pages' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31645523738721,"sku":"9781471139802","price":9.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_31787108.jpg?v=1734597243","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781471139802-lords-of-the-desert","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}