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'Wonderfully compelling account of the British occupation of Iraq during the first world war.' -- Sunday Times>> 'Townshend skilfully interweaves two stories in this gripping book. One is the story of the campaign. The other is the story of how Britain took on a huge strategic burden that it would find increasingly difficult to afford.' -- Daily Express >> 'This riveting history of Britain's initially ill-fated invasion of Mesopotamia.' -- --Literary Review
--This text refers to the
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Book Description
A compelling work of political and military history, this is a highly original account of the conquest of Mesopotamia in 1914 - Britain's first invasion of Iraq.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very detailed book about the invasion of Mesopotamia commencing in 1915. If you have no previous knowlege of the political situation in what is known as "The Midle East" you may struggle. It is a pity that Tony Blair did not have this book when he authorise the joint action against Iraq (I doubt if he would have learned from the many mistakes of our Government of the time). I found the book engrossing but very lacking in maps. Surely it would benefit from detailed maps of the area. Well worth reading none the less for anyone seeking further understanding of what has happened to Iraq since and even now.
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was bought to join a major Collection of books on The Great War and Associated Conflicts, which within the next three months will be moved to St. Andrews University where it will be maintained, and added to constantly.
The Mesopotamian Campaign was an inadvertently important aspect of the First War, the various problems with Iraq recently mostly had their genesis in what happened during that war. Modern studies of the greater conflict and its political aspect are rare, this book is a worthy addition to the very small library of that description. Townshend - and there is no connection with one of the main protaganists of the Campaign - writes clearly and concisely, he never loses the interest of the reader but the book is as useful for the academic as it is for the casual reader. Highly recommended.
The Mesopotamian Campaign was an inadvertently important aspect of the First War, the various problems with Iraq recently mostly had their genesis in what happened during that war. Modern studies of the greater conflict and its political aspect are rare, this book is a worthy addition to the very small library of that description. Townshend - and there is no connection with one of the main protaganists of the Campaign - writes clearly and concisely, he never loses the interest of the reader but the book is as useful for the academic as it is for the casual reader. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although not an avid reader of military history, I found this book to be totally absorbing. When one thinks of the British involvement in WW1, it is usually only the Western Front in France that gets the attention - the other 'Fronts' are largely ignored. This book shows that the Western Front was not the only calamity - rank mismanagement and incompetence at all levels of Government and the Military led to massive and unneccesary loss of life in Mesopotamia too. However, the book would have been easier to follow if there had been more maps and diagrams to accompany the various battle narratives. The two maps near the beginning of the book deal only with the initial engagements. For the remaining three quarters of the book there are no such aids. So sometimes the narrative did seem to get a little 'bogged down' in detail. Also, it would have been helpful to me if the largely unneccesary 'List of Abbreviations' (I hardly ever referred to it) had been replaced with a 'Dramatis Personnae', perhaps giving 'thumbnail sketches' 2 or 3 lines perhaps)of the various Government and Miltary figures involved at the various stages of the book. I often found it difficult to follow where people fitted in exactly, where they came from, who they were in charge of exactly (and also who was in charge of them!) and how they inter-related. Names sometimes just appeared 'out of the blue' in the narrative without any background explantion of their role. Perhaps for readers already very familiar with the Mesopotamia campaign, this would be superfluous but to the new/casual reader this would, I think, be helpful in increasing the enjoyment to be gained from this read.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Must do better, far better!
On the plus side, the book contains a lot of thought-provoking and interesting material and the author is right in terms of the logistical nightmare that was the consequence of... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jersey BHB
factual war books
Unfortunately it was an Xmas present for my son. He is very interested in factual WW1 and WW2 books. He thought it was very good. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Published 16 months ago by doreen
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