This is a far-reaching study of how Britain's postwar Labour government attempted to sustain a vision of Britain as a world power. Committed to the liquidation of the old British Empire, the government sought to develop new relationships in the Middle East as a replacement for India, hoping to halt the decline of the Empire by putting it on a new basis. Caught between the forces of anti-British nationalism and American anti-colonialism, the attempt was ultimately destined to fail; but it marks a crucial phase in the story of British imperialism and of Middle Eastern history.

The quarter century after the end of the Second World War and the transfer of power in India in 1947 marked the slow and turbulent dissolution of the British Empire in the Middle East. Seeking to capture the period in its full complexity and contradictions, acclaimed historian Wm. Roger Louis here provides a through-going account of the British Empire's gradual decline. Unpicking the overlapping motivations of those across Britian, the US, and the Middle East, the book demonstrates how and why enthusiasm for the British involvement in the region waned, the chaotic ways in which the withdrawal unfolded, and the importance of these events for understanding the region today. The book explores the period in full detail: from the overthrow of the Musaddiq government in Iran, the Egyptian Revolution, Sudan's independence, and the events of the pivotal year of 1955 that set the stage for the Suez crisis the following year; through the pivotal Suez crisis of 1956 itself; to the crises of 1957, the Iraqi Revolution of 1958, and the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; and concluding with the collapse of the British position in Aden and the decision to withdraw from the Gulf, a process completed by the end of 1971. This panoramic and comprehensive history draws on six decades' work in archives across Europe, the Middle East, and the US - including those from governmental archives and private papers and in multiple languages - complemented by a considerable body of oral history testimony, much of it acquired by the author through conversations with contemporary British politicians and officials. In so doing, the book sheds new light onto the nature and complexity of the British Empire in its final days - and the importance of understanding this history today.