Review
"The nineteenth-century Persian Gulf has been much studied but, Anscombe stresses, always relying primarily on the British archives and therefore seen predominantly from the British point of view. He instead bases his work on the Ottoman documents and sees the Gulf from the perspective of Instanbul.... Excellent." -- Middle East Quarterly


Middle East Quarterly
The nineteenth-centuy Persian Gulf has been much studied but, Anscombe stresses, always relying primarily on the British archives and therefore seen predominantly from the British point of view. He instead bases his work on the Ottoman documents and sees the Gulf from the perspective of Instanbul. . . . Excellent.


L. Carl Brown author of Imperial Legacy: The Ottoman Imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East
Too much modern Arab history has been written as if the Ottoman Empire had virtually no standing in the unfolding events. Anscombe corrects and enriches the record by uncovering and interpreting the significant Ottoman input without, however, slighting the Wahhibi-Saudi and British-Western sources and interpretations. All are deftly balanced in this fine study.


Book Description
What caused the decline of the Ottoman empire in the Persian Gulf? Why has history credited only London, not Istanbul, with bringing about the birth of the modern Gulf States? Using the Ottoman imperial archives, as well as European and Arab sources, Anscombe explains how the combination of poor communication, scarce resources, and misplaced security concerns undermined Istanbul's control and ultimately drove the Gulf shaikhs to seek independence with ties to the British.


About the Author
FREDERICK F. ANSCOMBE is assistant professor of history at American University in Bulgaria.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

What caused the decline of the Ottoman empire in the Persian Gulf? Why has history credited only London, not Istanbul, with bringing about the birth of the modern Gulf States? Using the Ottoman imperial archives, as well as European and Arab sources, Anscombe explains how the combination of poor communication, scarce resources, and misplaced security concerns undermined Istanbul´s control and ultimately drove the Gulf shaikhs to seek independence with ties to the British.

Too much modern Arab history has been written as if the Ottoman Empire had virtually no standing in the unfolding events. Anscombe corrects and enriches the record by uncovering and interpreting the significant Ottoman input without, however, slighting the Wahhibi-Saudi and British-Western sources and interpretations. All are deftly balanced in this fine study. (L. Carl Brown, author of Imperial Legacy: The Ottoman Imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East)

The nineteenth-centuy Persian Gulf has been much studied but, Anscombe stresses, always relying primarily on the British archives and therefore seen predominantly from the British point of view. He instead bases his work on the Ottoman documents and sees the Gulf from the perspective of Instanbul. . . . Excellent. (Middle East Quarterly)

SYNOPSIS

What caused the decline of the Ottoman empire in the Persian Gulf? Why has history credited only London, not Istanbul, with bringing about the birth of the modern Gulf States? Using the Ottoman imperial archives, as well as European and Arab sources, Anscombe explains how the combination of poor communication, scarce resources, and misplaced securi

FROM THE CRITICS

L. Carl Brown

Too much modern Arab history has been written as if the Ottoman Empire had virtually no standing in the unfolding events. Anscombe corrects and enriches the record by uncovering and interpreting the significant Ottoman input without, however, slighting the Wahhibi-Saudi and British-Western sources and interpretations. All are deftly balanced in this fine study.

Middle East Quarterly