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This book covers the tenure of Kitchener as Proconsul in Egypt in the years preceding the First World War. Based mostly on unpublished sources - including government records and private papers - it not only fills a gap in the life and career of Kitchener, the most famous soldier in Britain since Wellington, but it also deals with an important but practically unknown period in Egyptian history. George Cassar shows Kitchener to be an ardent imperialist, but one who had a sense of responsibility to the country he governed. Exchanging his field marshal's uniform for the dress of a statesman, he arrived in Egypt when British prestige was at a low point on account of his predecessor's policies. He restored political stability, created conditions that bolstered the economy, and introduced a wave of reforms. Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt, 1911-1914 reveals how Kitchener's interest extended beyond Egypt, and how throughout these years he worked quietly to prepare theground in an attempt to create an Arab Empire under Britain's suzerainty.
List of contents
Prelude.- 1. From Birth to the End of Military Service.- 2. Back to Egypt.- 3. Personality, Thoughts and Methods of a Benevolent Autocrat.- 4. The Challenge of Neutrality.- 5. Striving to Advance Egypt.- 6. Public Safety.- 7. The Capitulations and the Organic Law.- 8. The Royal Rebel.- 9. Prelude to World War I.- Epilogue.
About the author
George Cassar is Professor of Modern European and Military History at Eastern Michigan University, US. His many books on the First World War include
Lloyd George as War Leader, 1916-1918 and
Trial by Gas: The British Army at the Second Battle of Ypres.
Summary
This book covers the tenure of Kitchener as Proconsul in Egypt in the years preceding the First World War. Based mostly on unpublished sources – including government records and private papers – it not only fills a gap in the life and career of Kitchener, the most famous soldier in Britain since Wellington, but it also deals with an important but practically unknown period in Egyptian history. George Cassar shows Kitchener to be an ardent imperialist, but one who had a sense of responsibility to the country he governed. Exchanging his field marshal’s uniform for the dress of a statesman, he arrived in Egypt when British prestige was at a low point on account of his predecessor’s policies. He restored political stability, created conditions that bolstered the economy, and introduced a wave of reforms. Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt, 1911-1914 reveals how Kitchener’s interest extended beyond Egypt, and how throughout these years he worked quietly to prepare theground in an attempt to create an Arab Empire under Britain’s suzerainty.
Additional text
“The author’s admiration for Kitchener and his military and administrative exploits comes through loud and clear. … Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt is a salutary, meticulously documented, and compelling study of a neglected period in the history of British suzerainty in Egypt.” (Robert L. Tignor, Michigan War Studies Review, miwsr.com, May, 2017)
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"The author's admiration for Kitchener and his military and administrative exploits comes through loud and clear. ... Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt is a salutary, meticulously documented, and compelling study of a neglected period in the history of British suzerainty in Egypt." (Robert L. Tignor, Michigan War Studies Review, miwsr.com, May, 2017)
