In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the British Government, the banks, and leading individuals in London reached historic decisions that determined the name, shape and future of the region known as the Middle East. In this innovative and entertaining book Roger Adelson examines who made policy, on what grounds, with what information, and with what results.

The setting for the narrative is London, then the world's greatest metropolis and its financial and political centre. In both words and little-known photographs, Adelson evokes the atmosphere of Whitehall, Fleet Street, the City of London, and Westminster, and paints a vivid portrait of the individuals (Balfour, Churchill, Lloyd George, Curzon, Cromer, and others) who defined the political agenda.

Using an extensive range of public and private archives, he identifies issues of money, power, and territorial ambition at the heart of policy, and decisions made in ignorance of and often wholly without reference to local interests.