A study of Anglo-Iranian relations during World War I. This book analyzes such diplomacy as an example of great power politics in regional affairs, examining Britain's concern to maintain stability in Iran and exclude foreign interests from the Persian Gulf and the approaches to India.

This book critically examines the origins of American diplomacy in the greater Persian Gulf region, arguing that it was the inability of the United States to contend effectively with the disintegration of British imperial authority in the Gulf that eventually led it to assume its current role in the region.

Recent events have once again focused international attention on the volatile politics of the Gulf region. This new book, by three former British ambassadors – all with long service in the region – demonstrates the importance of the Gulf for Britain from the days of Elizabeth I to the present. It tells the story, through the life and works of the British diplomats and consuls and the missions in which they worked, of Britain’s involvement, first for trade and later for strategic purposes, in the four key regional states of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman. With wit and insight, the book traces the origins of today’s problems from the Ottoman and Persian empires to the 1991 Gulf War and its aftermath. Those who know the region will find this a refreshing new slant on an old story, while those new to the subject will enjoy the mixture of politics and personalities ably described and analysed.

Research completed January 1993.