This book presents an exquisitely thorough biography of Edmund Allenby (1861â1936), the British military and diplomatic leader of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Recounting Allenbyâs life, Faught gives us a window into the geopolitical, colonial strife of the time, including the run-up to Allenbyâs conquest of Palestine in 1917 and eventual installation as Governor of Egypt in 1919 ... This is a history loverâs dream of a book.
AramcoWorld
Professor Faught has written a concise, stimulating account of the life and times of Allenby. He communicates the romanticism and complexity of the conflicts in which he was embroiled, and brings his story to a new audience at a time when the Middle East is again, as so often, headline news.
Military History Matters Magazine
Edmund Allenby, Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe, as he became later, was the principal British military figure in the Middle East from 1917 to 1919. He fulfilled a similar proconsular role in Egypt from the latter year until 1925. In these two roles Allenbyâs eight years in the Middle East were of great impact, and in probing his life an especially revealing window can be found through which to observe closely and understand more fully the history that has resulted in the terminal roil afflicting the Middle East and international affairs today.
In this biography Brad Faught explores the events and actions of Allenbyâs life, examining his thinking on both the British Empire and the post-World War I international order. Faught brings clarity to Allenbyâs decisive impact on British imperial policy in the making of the modern Middle East, and thereby on the long arc of the regionâs continuing and controversial place in world affairs.