A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East

Author:   James Barr
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster Ltd
ISBN:  

9781847394576


Pages:   464
Publication Date:   26 April 2012
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East


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Overview

‘The very grubby coalface of foreign policy … I found the entire book most horribly addictive’ Independent ‘One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining the other’ Spectator A fascinating insight into the untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East. In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, two men secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them. Sir Mark Sykes was a visionary politician; François Georges-Picot a diplomat with a grudge. They drew a line in the sand from the Mediterranean to the Persian frontier, and together remade the map of the Middle East, with Britain’s 'mandates' of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France's in Lebanon and Syria. Over the next thirty years a sordid tale of violence and clandestine political manoeuvring unfolded, told here through a stellar cast of politicians, diplomats, spies and soldiers, including T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Using declassified papers from the British and French archives, James Barr vividly depicts the covert, deadly war of intrigue and espionage between Britain and France to rule the Middle East, and reveals the shocking way in which the French finally got their revenge.

Full Product Details

Author:   James Barr
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster Ltd
Imprint:   Simon & Schuster Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 13.00cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.350kg
ISBN:  

9781847394576


ISBN 10:   1847394574
Pages:   464
Publication Date:   26 April 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Reviews

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Arial;}} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\fs20 'With supeb research and telling quotations, Barr has skewered the whole shabby story...The convulsion of that fateful line in the sand are still being felt today - not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world' --Michael Binyon, \i The Times\i0 , 29 July 2011 \par \par 'Racy... [Barr] is right to assert that few British readers grasp the ferocity of Anglo-French antagonism in the Levant' --Max Hastings, \i Sunday Times\i0 , 24 July 2011 \par }


'With superb research and telling quotations, Barr has skewered the whole shabby story...The convulsion of that fateful line in the sand are still being felt today - not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world' -- Michael Binyon * The Times * 'Racy... [Barr] is right to assert that few British readers grasp the ferocity of Anglo-French antagonism in the Levant' -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * 'One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining each other' * The Spectator * 'The very grubby coalface of foreign policy...I found the entire book most horribly addictive' * Independent * 'Lively and entertaining. He has scoured the diplomatic archives and has come up with a rich hail that brings his narrative to life' * Financial Times * 'James Barr's history of imperial machinations in the Middle East offers a revelatory slant on the continuing crisis in that area... an outstanding piece of research and a damning take on what stoked current Middle Eastern woes' * Metro * 'James Barr has succeeded better than any author before him in telling the fascinating story of Anglo-French rivalries in the modern Middle East... Outstanding' -- Eugene Rogan, author of 'The Arabs: A History 'The book resembles a gripping spy thriller...an expertly researched and authoritative book that is easy to read' * Military Times * 'Barr is particularly good at identifying and portraying officials and agents engaged in these tit-for-tat reprisals that blurred the distinction between patriotism and crime' * Literary Review * 'Engaging and well-researched... James Barr's lively account provides some quite astounding sketches of bluster, bickering and bravado' * BBC History Magazine * The struggle between Britain and France for mastery of the Middle East between 1914 and the late 1940s, is analysed by James Barr in his excellent new book. It is a complex story of intrigue and skulduggery, which Barr pieces together in a deft, well-written narrative. A journalist by profession, he manages to bring the whole subject alive through a series of well-chosen details and characters' * History Today * 'History at its meticulously researched and addictive best' * Dublin Review of Books *


Author Information

James Barr has worked in politics, at the Daily Telegraph, in the City, at the British Embassy in Paris, and is currently a visiting fellow at King's College, London. He read modern history at Oxford has travelled widely in the Middle East. His previous book, A Line in the Sand, is also available from Simon & Schuster. He lives with his wife and two children in south London. 

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