The British Imperial Army in the Middle East: Morale and Military Identity in the Sinai and Palestine Campaigns, 1916-18

Description

The First World War has often been understood in terms of the combat experiences of soldiers on the Western Front; those combatants who served in the other theatres of the war have been neglected. Using personal testimonies, official documentation and detailed research from a diverse range of archives, The British Imperial Army in the Middle East explores the combat experiences of these soldiers. The army that fought the Ottoman Empire was a multinational and multi-ethnic force, drawing personnel from across Britain's empire, including Australia, New Zealand, and India. By taking a transnational and imperial perspective on the First World War, this book ensures that the campaigns in Egypt and Palestine are considered in the wider context of an empire mobilised to fight a total and global war.

James E. Kitchen is Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK. He was formerly Lecturer in International History at University College Dublin, Ireland, and a member of its Centre for War Studies. He has also taught at the Royal Air Force College as Lecturer in Defence Studies for King's College London, UK. His research interests lie in the history of modern warfare and imperialism, and he has published on the cultural and military history of the First World War in the Middle East, as well as the conflict's colonial legacy.

In giving us this interesting look at the campaign and the men who fought it, Kitchen makes an excellent contribution to the literature of the Great War. * NYMAS * This detailed book enriches our knowledge about cultural, social and military aspects of the war in Palestine and is a welcome addition to the scholarly bookshelf about this campaign -- Yigal Sheffy, Tel-Hai College, Israel * Journal of Military History * A timely and much needed addition to the historiography of the First World War ... For both scholars of the First World War and those interested in the civilian-solider at war in the twentieth century, this book is well worth reading -- Justin Fantauzzo, University of Cambridge, UK * War in History * [Kitchen's book is] a breakthrough work regarding the imperial soldiers' experience of war outside Western Europe ... His comparative framework for studying the morale of the different types of military units is outstanding, and he deserves credit for fusing battlefield history with cultural studies. -- Kaushik Roy, Jadavpur University, Kolkata * Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research * By focusing on morale and military identity among the soldiers that made up the polyglot and cosmopolitan expeditionary force, Kitchen takes his readers far beyond a mere campaign history with a traditional focus on the leadership of Generals Archibald Murray and Edmund Allenby ... Kitchen's meticulously researched book makes extensive use of primary source materials ranging from contemporary soldiers' letters and official (and unofficial) documentation to postwar memoirs and oral historiography. -- Kristian Coates Ulrichsen * Journal of Palestine Studies * This is a deeply researched work, which makes a major contribution to the literature. * Society of Friends of the National Army Museum Newsletter *