Thomas at the age of thirty-six is already a full professor, the author of a weighty study on the Spanish Civil War, and-to judge from his new book, which manages to be both brief and brilliant-about to become an authority on the Middle East as well. For the historically minded reader there is the additional attraction of insight into the mechanism that comes into play when an imperial system finally disintegrates. Nutting, also cast some light upon the permanent factors in the Middle-Eastern tangle. Both authors inevitably concentrate upon Britain’s role in the 1956 crisis, and to the extent that British influence has shrunk since then, this approach must seem parochial. Are they worth reading? The answer must be a qualified yes: heavily qualified in the case of Anthony Nutting, less so in relation to Hugh Thomas. The third round in the Arab-Israeli conflict is barely over, and here are two books dealing with the previous round: the Suez affair of 1956.
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