The British Empire in the Middle East, 1945-1951

A magnificent and comprehensive new book....Mr. Louis unravels with compelling detail the way in which the British 'official mind' engaged in [an] imperial and strategic juggling act, as it sought to preserve national interest in an era of unprecedented global change.--The New York Times Book Review

A.J.P. Taylor has called him 'the foremost historian of the British Empire and Commonwealth in his generation.' Alan Bullock has called him 'the leading historian of the final phase of the British Empire.' Both comments are deserved.--The New York Review of Books

[An] extraordinary digest of opinion, debate and argument which went on within the British colonial office.--Congress Monthly

[M]agnificantly crafted with apt quotations to entrance the reader as he proceeds page by page through the saga of British foreign policy in the postwar period. Contributes handsomely to our understanding of the founding of the Jewish state.--Studies in Contemporary Jewry III

The book of the year.--A.J.P. Taylor, The Observer

A major accomplishment, remarkable for the depth and sensitivity of its analysis, that will remain an indispensable reference for scholars and nonspecialists for years to come.--The Middle East Journal

The most impressive diplomaic history written about that region in the postwar period....Scholars looking for a model of historical diplomatic writing could find no better starting place.--American Historical Review

[A] rich and highly informative book....The author shows his mastery of an enormous range of source material, and his work will continue to stimulate argument for many years to come.--MERIP Middle East Report

A historical study of extraordinary value.--Foreign Affairs

Magisterial...Will no doubt become the standard work on the sweeping subject it explores, a reference book for students of the Middle East, Africa, and the empire as a whole. It is a prodigious achievement of scholarship, rich, readable, and entertaining, the study of an era from the vantage point of another in similar flux, a history of lasting value.--Northeast African Studies