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A Line in the Sand

Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East

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A Line in the Sand

Von: James Barr
Gesprochen von: Peter Noble
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Über diesen Titel

 ‘The very grubby coalface of foreign policy … I found the entire book most horribly addictive’ Independent

‘One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining the other’ Spectator

A fascinating insight into the untold story of how British-French rivalry drew the battle-lines of the modern Middle East.

In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, two men secretly agreed to divide the Middle East between them. Sir Mark Sykes was a visionary politician; François Georges-Picot a diplomat with a grudge. They drew a line in the sand from the Mediterranean to the Persian frontier, and together remade the map of the Middle East, with Britain’s 'mandates' of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq, and France's in Lebanon and Syria.

Over the next thirty years a sordid tale of violence and clandestine political manoeuvring unfolded, told here through a stellar cast of politicians, diplomats, spies and soldiers, including T. E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle. Using declassified papers from the British and French archives, James Barr vividly depicts the covert, deadly war of intrigue and espionage between Britain and France to rule the Middle East, and reveals the shocking way in which the French finally got their revenge. Europa Großbritannien Naher Osten Politik & Regierungen

Kritikerstimmen

'With superb research and telling quotations, Barr has skewered the whole shabby story...The convulsion of that fateful line in the sand are still being felt today - not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world' (Michael Binyon)
'Racy... [Barr] is right to assert that few British readers grasp the ferocity of Anglo-French antagonism in the Levant' (Max Hastings)
'One of the unexpected responses to reading this masterful study is amazement at the efforts the British and French each put into undermining each other'
'The very grubby coalface of foreign policy...I found the entire book most horribly addictive'
'Lively and entertaining. He has scoured the diplomatic archives and has come up with a rich hail that brings his narrative to life'
'James Barr's history of imperial machinations in the Middle East offers a revelatory slant on the continuing crisis in that area... an outstanding piece of research and a damning take on what stoked current Middle Eastern woes'
'James Barr has succeeded better than any author before him in telling the fascinating story of Anglo-French rivalries in the modern Middle East... Outstanding' (Eugene Rogan, author of 'The Arabs: A History)
'The book resembles a gripping spy thriller...an expertly researched and authoritative book that is easy to read'
'Barr is particularly good at identifying and portraying officials and agents engaged in these tit-for-tat reprisals that blurred the distinction between patriotism and crime'
'Engaging and well-researched... James Barr's lively account provides some quite astounding sketches of bluster, bickering and bravado'
The struggle between Britain and France for mastery of the Middle East between 1914 and the late 1940s, is analysed by James Barr in his excellent new book. It is a complex story of intrigue and skulduggery, which Barr pieces together in a deft, well-written narrative. A journalist by profession, he manages to bring the whole subject alive through a series of well-chosen details and characters'
'History at its meticulously researched and addictive best'
Alle Sterne
Am relevantesten
The author is visibly very well informed and has done his research. Add to that an ease of style that makes reading (or in our case, listening) a true pleasure while, almost casually, you learn about all the important parts of the complex framework that underlies the modern Middle East. A gem of a book.

All the drama of the Middle East in a few pages

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Spannt einen guten Bogen von Lawrence of Arabia zu Menachem Begin. Zeigt aber auch die Aversion zwischen Frankreich und Grossbritannien.

Hilfreich um die Hintergründe des Nahostkonflikts besser einordnen zu können

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I enjoyed every chapter of the book as they were very informative and still enthralling. I am not much of an expert of the Middle East but now I gained quite of an understanding of its history.

A very well written and narrated book.

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The book tells the story of quadruple treason, conflicting interests, changing alliances, and uncompromising values. It is slightly depressing as it lacks appeasement and discusses the hideous acts of terrorism by Arabs, Jews, and Colonial powers. No hands are clean but understanding history and internal conflicts could one day help to bring peace.

In the book, Barr vividly tells the story of the short 34 crucial years when Britain and France ruled the Middle East. It is divided into four sections: the carve up (1915-19) when the line between Acre in Palestine and Kirkuk in Mesopotamia was drawn and the diplomacy and politics behind the divisions. The second part is the interwar tensions (1920-39) that was full of revolts by Arabs, Druze, and Jews, as well as the power politics of oil discovery and pipelines. Third is the “secret war” (1940-45) where a real-life Game of Throne took place during the Second World War with king exiles and assassinations. Finally, the colonial exit (1945-49) that cemented the new world order and the institutional destruction of the Middle-East.

An ABSOLUTE MUST-READ for anyone studying or working on the Middle-East

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