The Poisoned Well: Empire and Its Legacy in the Middle East

297 Pages·2016·8.2 MB·English

by  Roger Hardy

THE POISONED WELL

ROGER HARDY
The Poisoned Well
Empire and its Legacy in the Middle East
1
1
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Published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
© Roger Hardy 2017
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Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress
ISBN: 9780190623203
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan, USA
For Jola, a freedom fighter,
& for Peter and Ania, the post-colonial generation

CONTENTS
Introduction: Remembering Colonialism 1
1. Out of the Ashes 7
2. Sword of Arabia 27
3. The Struggle for the Levant 45
4. Lovers of Zion 65
5. Abdullah’s Little Kingdom 87
6. Oil and Empire 101
7. The Pigeons of Denshawai 123
8. Revolution on the Tigris 145
9. The Battle of Algiers 163
10. Arabian Endgame 183
Epilogue: The Poisoned Well 197
Notes 207
Acknowledgements 223
Bibliography 225
Dramatis Personae 233
Index 245
vii

Image 1: Istanbul in 1880, when the once-great Ottoman empire was already
in decline; out of its ashes emerged modern Turkey–and the modern Middle
East (Abdulhamid II Collection, Library of Congress)