8vo. 377 pp., Arabic text, b/w photographs, hard back in d/w, index, copy in mint condition, Issam El-Said Foundation, London, first edition, 1992.

Synopsis

Nuri al-Said (1888 – 1958) was an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms as the prime minister of Iraq. From his first appointment as prime minister under the British mandate in 1930, Nuri was a major political figure in Iraq under the monarchy. During his many terms in office, he was involved in some of the key policy decisions that shaped the modern Iraqi state. In 1930, during his first term, he signed the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, which, as a step toward greater independence, granted Britain the unlimited right to station its armed forces in and transit military units through Iraq and also gave legitimacy to British control of the country’s oil industry.