Historian. Author of A LINE IN THE SAND and LORDS OF THE DESERT. Now working on a new book, THE ARENA.
Oct 14, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Re the US-Saudi relationship, it’s worth remembering that the Saudis threatened to leak the minute of the Feb 1945 Bitter Lake meeting between Ibn Saud and FDR to try to blackmail Truman…
The minute quoted FDR as saying that “he would do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs” and had suggested that Poland, not Palestine might provide “space … for the resettlement of many homeless Jews”…
Sep 1, 2022 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
@Ned_Donovan It was drafted by Mark Sykes but then quite tellingly amended before publication. The speaker of the House of Commons said it contained “a great deal of Oriental and flowery language”.
@Ned_Donovan The British entered Baghdad on 11 March. Sykes’s draft was put to the War Cabinet for consideration the following day…
