The Russell Cawthorn Collection
The Great War 1914-1918, and Associated Conflicts The Ottoman Empire & Further East: Then to Now East of Constantinople/Istanbul Overviews and General Historical Background
The Man Who Created The Middle East: A Story of Empire, Conflict, and The Sykes-Picot Agreement
ISBN
9780008121907
Purchase Price
£25.00 (new)
Date Purchased
November 4, 2016
Publisher
William Collins, an imprint of Harper Collins (2016, London)
Notes
This is a new study of the life of Sir Mark Sykes (inevitably including the story of the Sykes-Picot Agreement) but written by his grandson. One would expect the author to perhaps favour his subject more than most, and certainly Mark Sykes is presented, most definitely, as not being the blimpish, ignorant, little travelled diplomat/ career civil servant that some would suppose was responsible for this most famous progenitor of the present Middle East troubles. The facts support the proposition that Sykes was extremely well travelled, especially in the Middle East, with lots of experience - but has the author presented us with a true picture of the man, what he was tasked to do during the war, and how he went about it? Probably no-one knows the answer to this, including the author. But this is a very well written book which keeps the reader's interest, and given the context of the subject, it has to be regarded as a valuable resource for us. Without venturing much further into comment, we will say that it does shed some interesting light on how the Agreement was ever entered into, and what happened to influence the course of events after it was signed..........
9780008121907
Purchase Price
£25.00 (new)
Date Purchased
November 4, 2016
Publisher
William Collins, an imprint of Harper Collins (2016, London)
Notes
This is a new study of the life of Sir Mark Sykes (inevitably including the story of the Sykes-Picot Agreement) but written by his grandson. One would expect the author to perhaps favour his subject more than most, and certainly Mark Sykes is presented, most definitely, as not being the blimpish, ignorant, little travelled diplomat/ career civil servant that some would suppose was responsible for this most famous progenitor of the present Middle East troubles. The facts support the proposition that Sykes was extremely well travelled, especially in the Middle East, with lots of experience - but has the author presented us with a true picture of the man, what he was tasked to do during the war, and how he went about it? Probably no-one knows the answer to this, including the author. But this is a very well written book which keeps the reader's interest, and given the context of the subject, it has to be regarded as a valuable resource for us. Without venturing much further into comment, we will say that it does shed some interesting light on how the Agreement was ever entered into, and what happened to influence the course of events after it was signed..........