3 Review(s)

The End of Empire in the Middle Eastis an original and perceptive study of Britain's withdrawal from her last Arab dependencies - the Sudan in 1956, South West Arabia in 1967 and the Gulf in 1971 - based upon a combination of first hand experience and extensive research. Glen Balfour-Paul opens by outlining Britain's position in the Middle East at the end of the Second World War. He then presents in three separate chapters a detailed account of the forces that culminated in withdrawal from each of the countries. In the final chapters, the author compares and contrasts the three episodes in terms of Britain's evolving attitude to empire, public pressures from within and outside the territories, the tensions that arose between policy makers in London and those executing their decisions, attitudes of British officials to their task and the political and economic aftermath of independence.