"Gertrude Bell was one of a select group of Western Arabists who helped create the modern Middle East. She was arguably the single most influential individual in Iraq when, in the aftermath of World War I, the British attempted to create a nation out of regions that had long been different provinces of the Ottoman Empire. She was called upon to produce this succinct but insightful volume us a guide for the military officers and civil servants who were attempting to create an Iraqi government." "A long dispute over whether the volume was actually written by her is settled in Dr. Paul Rich's introduction. It not only is written by Bell, but the reader can see in what she chooses to emphasize just what her awn views are on the course that the development of Iraq should take."--Jacket.