Ann Wilks: Britain’s Man on the Spot in Iraq and Afghanistan: Sir Henry Dobbs at the Apex of Empire

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Sir Henry Dobbs’ significant role in the making of the modern Middle East and before that his eventful career in British India are revealed in his recently discovered papers and colourfully written letters which form the backbone of this book.

"Wilks has masterfully reassembled Dobbs’ career from these letters, supplementing them with papers from the official record and the relevant secondary scholarship. The result is a tautly written study that ably situates its protagonist and his career in the context of this period of remarkable change" - Benjamin Fortna, Professor, The University of Arizona, USA

"A revealing biographical study of an indispensable ‘man on the spot’ during the high point of the British Empire"
- C. Brad Faught, Tyndale University, Canada

As head of the British delegation after the Third Afghan War, Dobbs manoeuvred between the different views in London and Delhi with great dexterity to negotiate alone with the Amir of Afghanistan the enduring 1921 Anglo-Afghan treaty.

In the aftermath of WW1, the League of Nations gave the British responsibility for taking the newly-created Iraq to sustainable independence. As Britain’s High Commissioner, Dobbs used his own unauthorised tactics to persuade the Iraqis to accept the hugely unpopular arrangements in the 1922 treaty with Britain. Their acceptance was key to preventing cash-strapped Britain withdrawing its support. Dobbs tenaciously held on to Iraq’s northern third in the face of Turkish manoeuvres and British compromising tendencies. An early advocate of self-determination, he consistently pressed for Iraq’s early independence – granted in 1932.

Dobbs always endeavoured to balance the needs and aspirations of overseas communities for whom he was responsible with the interests of Britain which he represented.

Ann Wilks, CBE, is an independent historian and former Senior Civil Servant. She has published articles in The British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies and the Royal Asiatic Society Journal.