Machine summary:
" We would go further; we would say that there was nowhere in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire any such general disillusion• ment with Turkish rule and keen desire to end it as is postu• lated in all post-war British histories and even by Mr. Main himself for regions other than 'Iraq.
It is his failure to per• ceive this fact-with its corollaries : that such rebellious movements as existed prior to the war were instigated and maintained by foreign powers for their own ends, and that the whole body of Muslim opinion in the world was sure even• tually to deplore the destruction of the last great Muslim power by such insidious means-that mars this author's diag• nosis of the consequent disease and leads him sometimes to mistake a symptom for the malady.
nomic development of 'Iraq since the war is due, and anyone who would estimate the magnitude and value of the work which they have done should read Mr. Main's book where it is described in detail, with the reasons why the future of that country is of interest to British statesmen and an account of the " safeguards " provided for British political interests in the tres ty which has given 'Iraq complete independence.
Professor Roy's little book is intended to fill in this blank in the average reader's historical memory, and to remind people of the fact that Sher Shah's empire did not fall to pieces at his death but was maintained with vigour and success by Islam Shah and still existed at the time of Humayun's return.
A glossary, an appendix on the nomadic tribes of Arabia, and many photographs of great interest illustrating desert life complete this charming and valuable work.