"An excellent biography."
The Spectator "The strength of Imperial Warrior is its author's grasp of history."
Financial Times
Field-Marshal Lord Allenby was one of the few British generals in the First World War who won battles.
A cavalry officer with an open mind; he made a name for himself in the Boer War and held several senior commands on the Western Front. Here he gained his reputation as 'The Bull', a bad-tempered and volatile martinet. Allenby was also frustrated by having to direct offensives planned by Haig which were tantamount to the repeated reinforcement of failure. The most calamitous was at Arras and led to Allenby's removal. Lloyd George detected his innate genius and placed him in command of the army in the Middle East, where Allenby shone as a strategist. His forces took Jerusalem in 1917 and completed the destruction of Turkish-German forces in Palestine, the Lebanon and Syria the following year.
A cultured man, Allenby recognised and used the talents of T.E. Lawrence, but was uncomfortably amused by his subsequent pursuit of celebrity. After the war, Allenby served as High Commissioner in Egypt where he confronted the powerful nationalist movement. He was a pragmatic imperialist who was able to balance Egyptian aspirations with British strategic and political interests.
Flexible and intelligent, Allenby helped create the modern Middle East.
Author Biography
Lawrence James was a founder member of York University and then took a research degree at Merton College, Oxford. After a distinguished teaching career he became a full-time writer in 1985 and has emerged as one of the outstanding narrative historians of his generation. His books include Crimea: The War with Russia in Contemporary Photographs, The Savage Wars: British Campaigns in Africa 1870-1920, Mutiny: Mutinies in British and Commonwealth Forces 1797-1956 and Imperial Rearguard: The Last Wars of Empire. Lawrence James edited the Daily Telegraph British Empire supplement (1997) and was the consultant to the Daily Mail British Empire supplement (2001). He regularly appears on television and writes for the Daily Mail, Times and Literary Review.
