The Baghdad Set: Iraq through the Eyes of British Intelligence, 1941–45

Description

This book provides the first ever intelligence history of Iraq from 1941 to 1945, and is the third and final volume of a trilogy on regional intelligence and counterintelligence operations that includes Nazi Secret Warfare in Occupied Persia (Iran) (2014), and Espionage and Counterintelligence in Occupied Persia (Iran) (2015). This account of covert operations in Iraq during the Second World War is based on archival documents, diaries, and memoirs, interspersed with descriptions of all kinds of clandestine activity, and contextualized with analysis showing the significance of what happened regionally in terms of the greater war. After outlining the circumstances of the rise and fall of the fascist Gaylani regime, Adrian O’Sullivan examines the activities of the Allied secret services (CICI, SOE, SIS, and OSS) in Iraq, and the Axis initiatives planned or mounted against them. O'Sullivan emphasizes the social nature of human intelligence work and introduces the reader to a number of interesting, talented personalities who performed secret roles in Iraq, including the distinguished author Dame Freya Stark. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxvi Prologue: Of Spies, Scouts, and Cover (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 1-29 Prelude to Conflict and the Embassy Siege (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 31-46 War within War (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 47-61 Restoring the Peace (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 63-91 South Gate (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 93-114 The Moon Palace (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 115-150 Border Security and Boots on the Ground (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 151-168 Six: His Britannic Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 169-179 A Place in the Shade (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 181-218 Oh So Social (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 219-244 Epilogue: The Baghdad Set (Adrian O’Sullivan)....Pages 245-260 Back Matter ....Pages 261-326