{"product_id":"britains-man-on-the-spot-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-government-and-diplomacy-by-sir-henry-dobbs-at-the-apex-of-empire-9780755651320","title":"Britain's Man on the Spot in Iraq and Afghanistan: Government and Diplomacy by Sir Henry Dobbs at the Apex of Empire","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003cbr\u003e 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHaving accepted from the League of Nations the responsibility for taking the newly-created Iraq to sustainable independence in the aftermath of WW1, the cash-strapped British government came under great domestic pressure to abandon it. Key to British support continuing was Iraqi acceptance of the controversial 1922 treaty with Britain. This Dobbs achieved by disregarding the unhelpful approach recommended by London and, risking his career, he pressed on with his own wholly unauthorised tactics. In other initiatives, Dobbs ensured that Mosul province remained within Iraq. Dobbs consistently pressed for Iraq's early independence - granted in 1932, the first territory in the former Ottoman Empire to gain it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn early advocate of self-determination Dobbs was frequently at odds with the more traditional imperial approach of his superiors. He always endeavoured to balance the aspirations and needs of overseas communities for whom he was responsible with the interests of Britain which he represented.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnn Wilks, CBE\u003c\/b\u003e is an independent historian. She has published articles in \u003ci\u003eThe British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies \u003c\/i\u003eand the\u003ci\u003e Royal Asiatic Society Journal\u003c\/i\u003e. After taking a postgraduate degree in history at Lady Margaret Hall Oxford, she returned to history on retiring as a senior British civil servant.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"I. B. Tauris \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50394580844818,"sku":"9780755651320","price":131.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_161d4c3d-eda8-47f7-9d51-64ba16bcc97b.jpg?v=1729010101","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/britains-man-on-the-spot-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-government-and-diplomacy-by-sir-henry-dobbs-at-the-apex-of-empire-9780755651320","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}