8vo. viii, [3], 221 pp., 3 maps, cloth in d/w, some pencil annotations and underlining, notes, biblio, index, I.B. Tauris, London, first edition, 1992.

Synopsis

A fresh look at British diplomatic documents reveals how Whitehall covered its track, heading off the Iraqis, obfuscating League of Nations proceedings and confounding scholars and researches down to the present day. Pursuing his story through Britain’s withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and Iraq’s 1963 recognition of Kuwait’s boundaries, the author examines the United Nations’ post-war measures to secure the frontier in the face of Iraq’s continuing pressure for better access to Gulf water. The contents are:
1.Kuwait: The beginnings. 2. Britain, Kuwait, and the Turks, 1899-1914. 3. Britain Takes Charge in Iraq and Kuwait. 4. First Lines in the Sand, 1923. 5. Invisible Lines at Geneva, 1932. 6. Britain and Kuwait between the Wars. 7. Iraq on Its Own. 8. The Undemarcated Boundary, 1938-1958. 9. Dress Rehearsal for Desert Storm, 1961. 10. Reconciliation, Encroachment, and the First Gulf War, 1963-l988. 11. Saddam Hussein and the UN: Clear Lines in the Sand?