Britain in Iraq, Contriving King and Country (revised edition)

As the attention of the world is focused on the increasingly beleaguered U.S. and U.K. occupation of Iraq, Iraq expert and Middle East historian Peter Sluglett revisits Britain's creation of Iraq in the twentieth century in this thoroughly revised edition of his classic text 'Britain in Iraq' (1st publ. 1976).
Sluglett presents a comprehensive history of British policy towards Iraq from the beginnings of the Mesopotamia campaign in 1914 through the creation of Iraq in 1920 and the period of the mandate until Iraqi independence in 1932. As well as being a history of Britain's relations with Iraq, the book also traces the implementation of British policies in a number of key areas and the creation of the principal institutions of the state. As such it is an important contribution to both Middle Eastern and British imperial history, and crucial to our understanding of Iraq today.