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Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq
 
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Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq [Hardcover]

Christopher Catherwood (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

This compelling volume raises eerie echoes of present-day Iraq. In the aftermath of WWI, France and Britain competed for the Mideastern leftovers of the Ottoman Empire. The British grabbed Palestine, attempted to set up puppet monarchies in Arabia and in 1921 cobbled together hostile peoples—Kurds and Sunni and Shiite Arabs—into the artificial and unstable kingdom of Iraq, ruled by the imposed Hashemite king Faisal. Cambridge historian Catherwood asserts that this form of indirect rule was "empire lite" as fashioned by Churchill, then colonial minister. The British, drained economically by the world war, were greedy for spoils and wanted the benefits of empire on the cheap. The vastness of Iraq proved impossible to govern by a reduced garrison. Catherwood, a consultant to Tony Blair's cabinet, sees contemporary parallels in the unlearned lessons of "imperial overreach." Unwanted paternalistic protectorates have a way of imploding, Catherwood notes. Churchill conceded wryly that Britain was spending millions "for the privilege of living on an ungrateful volcano out of which we are in no circumstances to get anything worth having." In a readable historical essay stretched into a short book, Catherwood demonstrates yet again that one generation's pragmatism can be a later generation's tragedy. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

As Britain's colonial secretary in the 1920s, Winston Churchill made a mistake with calamitous consequences. Scholar and adviser to Tony Blair's government, Christopher Catherwood chronicles and analyzes how Churchill created the artificial monarchy of Iraq after World War I, thereby forcing together unfriendly peoples under a single ruler. The map of the Middle East that Churchill created led to the rise of Saddam Hussein and the wars in which American troops fought in 1991 and 2003. Defying a global wave of nationalistic sentiment, and the desire of subject peoples to rule themselves, Winston Churchill put together the broken pieces of the Ottoman Empire and created a Middle Eastern powder keg. Inducing Arabs under the rule of the Ottoman Turks to rebel against their oppressors, the British and French during World War I convinced the Hashemite clan that they would rule over Syria. In fact, Britain had promised the territory to the French. To make amends, Churchill created the nation of Iraq and made the Hashemite leader, Feisel, king of a land to which he had no connections at all. Eight pages of photographs add to this fascinating history on Churchill's decision and the terrible legacy of the Ottoman Empire's collapse.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars My local bookstore is buying 75 copies - it is THAT good...., Jun 9 2004
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This review is from: Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq (Hardcover)
My local bookstore is buying 75 copies of this book. Yes, folks, it really is THAT good. (And it sold 30 copies in the first week!)

If even the great Winston Churchill could mess up in Iraq, what hope for today's political leaders? At least they could try to learn from history. CHURCHILL'S FOLLY should be read by every Senator, Congressman, Presidential candidate and more besides.

Make sure everyone you know has read this timely and well-written book.

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Kirkus Review is right: this work is outstanding, Jun 8 2004
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This review is from: Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq (Hardcover)
Kirkus Reviews have given this outstanding book a rave review. I agree - this book is the business. It is clearly written in a way that anyone with a college education can understand, yet is based upon solid research in Churchill's archives. Like Kirkus, I think that this is a book that everyone should read.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding work of scholarship, Jun 7 2004
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This review is from: Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq (Hardcover)
An outstanding work of scholarship by a well-read historian, CHURCHILL'S FOLLY should be mandatory reading for anyone who is seriously interested in Iraq. Since this means most Americans, CHURCHILL'S FOLLY should be required reading across the land. Make sure your teachers, professors and friends have read this well-written, carefully researched book by one of the best young historians around today.
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