A Soldier's Story from Ottoman Rule to Independent Iraq.

The Memoirs of Jafar Pasha Al Askari (1885-1936) Translated by Mustafa Tariq Al Askari Edited by William Facey and Najdat Fathi Safwat published by Arabian Publishing ISBN 0 9544 7920 3 price 25.00 [pounds sterling] hardback

Born in Mosul in 1885, Jafar Pasha Al Askari played a colourful part in the events that led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, and in the foundation of modern Iraq in the 1920s and 1930s.

He was strongly drawn to the Arab nationalist ideas then current, and the consistent theme in a career of sensational twists and turns was his intense Arab patriotism. As one of the youngest generals in the Ottoman Army, he led the Sanusi regular forces in Cyrenaica in 1915-1916. His capture by the British and incarceration in Cairo led to an abortive-and comical-escape attempt and also to cordial relations with various British officers, among them T. E. Lawrence. In Cairo he realised the Arab cause might best be served by Sharif Hussein of Mecca's revolt against Ottoman rule, then getting under way. He was released in March 1917 to take command of the Arab regular forces fighting under the Amir Faisal bin Hussain (later King Faisal I of Iraq) in the Hijaz.

Jafar describes his leading role in the Arab Revolt at length. At its end, in 1919, Faisal appointed him Military Governor of Aleppo. He became one of the first members of the new Iraqi government under the British Mandate.

He was assassinated outside Baghdad, on a doomed quest to forestall Iraq's first military coup.

These memoirs, published in English for the first time, shed a vivid light on the early days of Arab nationalism and on the creation of modern Iraq, as experienced by one of the prime movers of Iraqi independence. They provide a timely reminder of the all but insuperable obstacles to be overcome in building an open Iraqi state, and add much fuel to the ongoing debate about the Arabs' quest to shape their own political destiny.